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ROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 


HERRICKJOH 
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BX  9178  .J5  F7 

Johnson,  Herrick,  1832-191, 

From  love  to  praise 


FROM   LOVE   TO    PRAISE 


Hkrrick   [ohnson,  D.  1).,  LI,.D. 


V 
Z\)c  Presbyterian  pulpit 

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FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 


y         BY 
HERRICK  JOHNSON,  D.  D.,  LL.D. 


PHILADELPHIA 

PRESBYTERIAN   BOARD   OF   PUBLICATION 
AND  SABBATH-SCHOOL  WORK 

1903 


Copyright,  1903,  by  the  Trustees  of 
The  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  and  Sabbath- 
School  Work 

Published  February,  ig03 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


I.     The  Love  of  God  for  Every  IVIan  ,         .       3 

II.     Emptying    the    Sepulchre    of    a    Dead 

Soul 29 

III.  The   Word    of   God    as    a  Character- 

builder  51 

IV.  The  Labor  Question  in  the  Kingdom 

OF  God 75 

V.  The  Inescapable  Conclusion  .         .         .   loi 

VI.  The  Intermediate  State  .         .         .123 

VII.  What  Shall  the  Resurrection  Body  Be?  147 

VIII.  God's  Great  Praising  Day      .         .        .165 


I 

THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY 

MAN 


FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN 

"  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
eternal  life." — John  iii.  i6. 

"  Orthodoxy  staggers  at  nothing  that  will  fill 
hell "  is  the  somewhat  startling  statement  made 
recently  to  a  Sabbath  audience  by  a  clergyman 
in  good  and  regular  standing  in  one  of  our  evan- 
gelical churches.  This  same  "orthodoxy"  is  also 
charged  with  "  always  facing  a  graveyard,"  and 
with  making  human  wills  simply  cogs  in  the 
great  wheel  of  the  universe,  moving  machine-like 
with  the  irresistibleness  of  fate. 

At  the  root  of  a  good  deal  of  misconception  and 
misrepresentation  in  this  matter  are  two  notions 
of  God  that  are  somewhat  prevalent  and  quite 
opposed  to  each  other,  but  equally  erroneous. 
The  one  is  that  God  was  bribed  to  mercy  by 
Jesus  Christ;  the  other  is  that  God  is  too  merciful 
to  punish  anybody,  no  matter  what  he  may  do 
with  Jesus,  or  what  he  may  think  about  Him. 

3 


4  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

Let  it  be  frankly  admitted  that  God  has  some- 
times been  so  presented  to  men  as  to  give  seem- 
ing warrant  for  both  the  one  and  the  other  of 
these  erroneous  notions  of  God. 

So  this  great  gospel  truth  of  God's  love  for  the 
world  is  here  and  now  used,  not  to  compass 
its  immeasurable  boundaries  nor  to  fathom  its 
fathomless  deeps,  but,  in  the  first  place,  to  correct 
these  two  false  conceptions  of  God ;  and  then,  to 
show  in  what  relation  the  great  truth  of  the  text 
puts  the  two  parties  most  concerned — which  two 
parties  are  God  and  man ;  and  then,  to  use  the 
truth  as  an  inspiration  to  world-wide  evangel  and 
conquest;  the  key-word  in  the  movement  to  make 
this  opening  century  signal  in  the  historic  suc- 
cession as  the  century  of  the  coming  of  the  king- 
dom of  God.  Incidentally,  throughout  the  dis- 
cussion, it  will  be  our  aim  to  vindicate  orthodox 
belief  from  the  aspersions  that  have  been  put 
upon  it. 

I.  Let  us  seek,  first  of  all,  to  get  rid  of  miscon- 
ceptions in  this  vital  matter. 

One  of  the  quite  prevalent  but  false  notions  of 
God  is  this :  that  God  is  a  hard,  inexorable  being, 
who  has  been  made  mild  and  forgiving  only  by 
the  death  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  great  gospel 
truth  we  are  now  to  consider  teaches  just  the 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN    5 

contrary.  It  represents  God  as  in  love  with  men 
already  before  Christ  came — with  all  men — with 
every  man.  "  God  so  loved  the  world."  And  this 
is  not  any  elect  or  select  portion  of  the  world,  but 
the  whole  world  of  human  beings  that  ever  have 
lived,  that  live  now  or  that  ever  will  live  on  the 
face  of  the  earth :  not  the  world  of  the  elect,  but 
the  world  of  sinners. 

This  is  a  most  blessed  truth.  And  yet  it  has 
sometimes  been  put  in  shadow.  Christ  has  been 
so  preached  as  to  seem  to  make  God  a  being  of 
resentments  to  be  mitigated  by  the  prayers  and 
tears  and  blood  of  His  own  Son.  And  this  text 
has  been  so  twisted  as  really  to  read,  "  God  so 
hated  the  sinful  world  that  He  could  be  propi- 
tiated only  by  the  death  of  His  beloved  Son." 
But  this  word  of  Christ  does  not  read  so.  It  tells 
us  of  a  loving  gift  from  a  loving  God,  not  of  a 
sacrificial  gift  made  by  somebody  else  to  placate 
an  angry  God.  It  tells  us  that  Calvary's  sacrifice 
did  not  appease  God. 

How  can  you  appease  love  ?  How  can  a  loving 
God  propitiate  Himself?  Read  this  text  with  this 
thought  of  a  propitiation  of  God  injected  into  it, 
and  see  how  it  sounds.  "  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  gave  His  beloved  Son  to  abate  His  own 
wrath   and  to  placate   Himself!"     Or,  "  God  so 


6  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
Son  that  He  might  stop  hating  it,"  This  is  simply 
suicide  ■  by  self-contradiction  !  What  folly  to  talk 
of  bribing  to  mercy  One  who  is  bent  by  every 
instinct  and  prompting  of  His  heart  to  the  exhi- 
bition of  mercy !  Will  you  bribe  a  mother  to 
love  her  child  ? 

From  Christ's  own  lips,  then,  we  have  the 
blessed  truth  that  God  the  Father  so  loved  the 
world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son  to  die 
for  it.  And  from  the  same  blessed  lips  we  have 
the  story  of  the  lost  boy  that  illustrates  this  love 
of  God  the  Father.  The  father  saw  the  returning 
prodigal  a  great  way  off,  and  ran  and  fell  upon  his 
neck  and  kissed  him.  And  the  welcome  given  to 
this  prodigal  God  is  willing  to  give  to  any  prodigal. 

You  see  He  is  not  a  stern,  harsh  judge.  You 
cannot  look  at  this  heart-of-God  truth  now  under 
consideration  with  any  sense  whatever  of  its  mean- 
ing and  think  of  God  as  unforgiving  and  unloving. 
You  cannot  see  the  father  in  the  parable  of  the 
prodigal  son  and  believe  for  one  moment  that  God 
is  relentless  and  vindictive.  For  the  story  tells 
you — and  remember  it  is  Christ  who  tells  the 
story — the  story  tells  you  God  is  waiting  to  see 
the  prodigal  son  turn  to  Him — peering  out  into 
the  darkness  and  waiting — that  He  may  meet  him 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN    7 

and  kiss  him  and  fold  him  to  His  heart.  This  is 
His  attitude  toward  every  sinning  prodigal  in  this 
wide  world.  And  this  gospel  of  Scripture  is  the 
gospel  of  Presbyterian  orthodoxy  :  the  orthodoxy 
which  is  charged  with  "  always  facing  a  grave- 
yard "  and  looking  to  a  dead  past ! 

But  there  is  another  false  notion  of  God  quite 
as  prevalent  in  our  day  as  the  one  just  named, 
and  probably  quite  as  mischievous.  It  arises  from 
the  swing  of  the  human  heart  to  the  opposite 
extreme  of  thought.  God  is  conceived  of  as  a 
being  whose  love  is  so  vast  and  sweeping  as  to 
make  punishment  at  last  impossible.  Instead  of 
being  thought  of  now  as  a  stern  judge  who  will 
by  no  means  clear  the  guilty,  He  is  thought  of  as 
a  Father  too  loving  to  punish,  and  so  full  of  mercy 
that  it  will  not  be  in  His  heart  to  deal  with  men 
according  to  any  rigid  standard  of  justice. 

But  this  notion  is  as  false  and  unscriptural  as 
the  other,  and  to  this  notion  as  well  as  to  the 
other  the  great  gospel  text  we  have  before  us 
stands  opposed.  In  the  bosom  of  this  heavenly 
message  we  not  only  find  the  beat  of  an  infinite 
heart,  but  the  imperial  majesty  of  a  holy  will. 
There  is  no  more  warrant  here  for  the  dear  God 
of  sentimentalism  than  for  the  hard  malignant 
God  of  railing  unbelief,  and  there  is  no  warrant 


8  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

whatever  for  either.  Let  us  carefully  read  the 
text  again.  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He 
gave  His  only  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on 
Him  should  not  perish."  Whosoever  believes. 
But  suppose  men  do  not  believe  and  will  not 
believe.  Do  you  not  see  the  inevitable,  irresisti- 
ble next  step  ?  If  men  still  will  not  believe,  then 
they  still  will  perish.  God's  love  does  not  save 
everybody,  although  it  goes  out  to  everybody. 
Some  men  will  not  take  its  great  gift.  And  if  the 
sacrifice  is  rejected,  how  can  it  help  the  sinner  it 
is  made  for? 

So  law  still  holds.  Penalty  still  falls.  Men 
still  perish.  They  need  not  perish.  Whosoever 
believes  shall  not  perish.  Whosoever  beheves 
shall  have  eternal  life. 

But  the  resplendent  brightness  of  this  world- 
wide love  makes  the  very  shadows  all  the  deeper. 
And  men  know  that  the  meaning  of  this  amazing 
sacrifice  is  a  deeper  condemnation  to  those  who 
reject  it.  "  Of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  think 
ye,  shall  he  be  judged  worthy,  who  hath  trodden 
under  foot  the  Son  of  God." 

We  are  not  to  think,  therefore,  that  in  God's 
moral  government  love  overrides  law — that  mercy 
abates  by  one  jot  or  tittle  the  claims  of  divine 
justice.    God  is  not  divided  against  Himself     One 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN    9 

side  of  His  being  is  not  at  war  with  the  other  side. 
And  no  sentimental  notions  of  His  love  must  be 
allowed  to  smooth  out  His  hatred  of  sin  or  dim 
by  the  faintest  shadow  the  splendid  glory  of  His 
holiness. 

The  truth  is,  in  any  definite  and  deep  thinking 
on  this  subject  we  reach  the  inevitable  conclusion 
that  capacity  of  love  and  of  wrath  lie  in  every 
great  nature.  It  is  this  that  gives  majesty  to 
character  and  sets  the  soul  in  principled  resent- 
ment against  wrong.  So  the  apparent  incongruity 
becomes  the  deepest  consistency. 

A  strong  lover  makes  a  strong  hater.  It  is  the 
sickly,  sentimental,  namby-pamby  love  that  never 
has  any  righteous  indignation.  Christ  is  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh ;  not  one  side  of  God  come 
into  the  world  to  pacify  or  placate  the  other  side. 
The  God  of  the  gospel  is  no  new  God  or  better 
God  or  more  loving  God  than  the  God  of  the 
law,  but  a  more  fully  revealed  God.  And  it  is  in 
His  tender  and  beseeching  gospels  that  we  hear 
the  deepest  thunder  of  the  two  eternities. 

Human  bosoms  were  never  before  shaken  by 
such  sanctions  of  sovereign  majesty  and  such 
words  of  doom  as  fell  from  the  lips  of  Him  who 
ate  with  publicans  and  sinners  and  who  died  to 
make  men  eood. 


lo  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

Now,  having  sought  to  correct  the  very  preva- 
lent misconception  of  God — that  God  was  bribed 
to  mercy  by  Jesus  Christ ;  and  the  equally 
prevalent  misconception  of  God,  that  God  in 
Christ  is  in  a  mere  gentle  way  of  goodness,  doing 
only  smooth  and  soft  things,  with  no  capacity  of 
righteous  indignation  and  no  function  of  wrath — 
let  us  consider 

II.  In  what  relation  this  great  gospel  truth  puts 
the  two  parties  that  are  in  disagreement. 

Clearly,  God  is  here  set  forth  as  a  lover;  loving 
men,  all  men,  every  man.  "  God  so  loved  the 
world."  Let  us  then  at  once  make  an  addition  to 
the  first  avowal  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  say : — 

"  I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  maker 
of  heaven  and  earth,  and  lover  of  the  whole 
world."  We  sing,  "Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul." 
We  have  equal  right  and  warrant  to  sing,  "  God 
the  Father  Almighty,  lover  of  my  soul." 

How  do  we  know  love  ?  We  know  love  in 
two  ways — by  its  manifestation  and  by  its  results; 
by  what  it  exhibits  and  by  what  it  accomplishes. 
How  can  I  possibly  know  that  another  loves  me 
except  by  what  he  shows  to  me  and  by  what  he 
secures  for  me  ? 

Let  us  then  look  at  God's  love  both  in  mani- 
festation and  in  achievement  if  we  want  to  know 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN   ii 

what  kind  of  a  lover  He  is.  Love  must  find 
expression.  Love  will  out  in  some  way  or  eat  up 
its  own  heart.  Love  must  do  something  or  die. 
But  there  is  no  way  thinkable  of  showing  love  in 
which  God  has  not  shown  His.  Go  round  about 
the  possibilities  and  see.  Go  to  the  word  of  God 
and  see. 

Let  us  look  at  God  the  Father's  love  in  mani- 
festation. It  is  the  love  that  throbs  through  all 
the  Scriptures,  from  the  first  promise  in  Genesis 
to  the  last  beseeching  word  of  The  Revelation, 
where  all  God's  heart  is  in  the  "  Whosoever  will, 
let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely."  It  is  the  love 
that  stands  with  a  great,  patient,  yearning  heart 
and  says  to  all  the  bruised  and  burdened  by  sin, 
"  Come  unto  me,  .  .  .  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 
It  is  the  love  that  represents  itself  as  plying  men 
with  one  agency  and  another,  and  sending  at  last 
a  beloved  and  only  Son,  saying,  "Surely,  they  will 
reverence  My  Son."  And  when  they  do  not  rev- 
erence Him,  but  stone  Him  and  scoff  at  Him, 
and  shout,  "  Away  with  Him  !"  it  is  the  love  that 
still  cries  out  in  words  full  of  pathos  and  tears, 
"  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  .  .  .  how  often  would 
I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  as  a  hen 
doth  gather  her  brood  under  her  wings,  and  ye 
would  not."     "  Ye  would   not " ;    and  while   the 


12  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

words  die  on  His  lips,  unbelief  rails  and  scoffs  and 
tramples  mercy  under  its  feet.  Thus,  by  the  very 
warrant  of  a  weeping  and  bleeding  and  dying 
Saviour,  assurance  is  given  the  whole  sinful  world 
that  the  love  of  God  the  Father  is  a  brooding 
love,  yearning  in  a  measureless  way  to  gratify  the 
feeling  of  paternity  in  His  bosom,  and  to  fold 
about  with  an  infinite  tenderness  all  the  wayward 
sons  of  men,  who  nevertheless  persist  in  their 
waywardness  and  never  come  under  the  shelter- 
ing covert  of  the  Almighty. 

Here  then  are  all  the  possible  and  conceivable 
moods  of  love.  Try  to  think  how  otherwise 
love  could  show  itself,  and  see  how  variety  is 
exhausted  in  love's  matchless  exhibition  as  we 
have  it  in  the  gospel.  It  is  a  tender,  compassion- 
ate, forgiving,  pursuing,  beseeching  love.  It  is  a 
patient  love.  Oh,  the  infinite  patience  of  the  love 
of  God !  It  is  a  suffering  love.  Mothers,  you 
know  love's  divinest  office  is  to  suffer;  and  God's 
heart  broke  on  Calvary's  cross. 

But  love  is  known  by  what  it  secures  for  us, 
as  well  as  by  what  it  shows  to  us.  We  have 
seen  how  God's  love  for  all  the  world  has  been 
marvelously  manifested.  Has  it  achieved  any- 
thing? If  love  is  impotent  to  secure,  something 
of  the  glory  of  its  exhibition  is  taken  away. 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN   13 

See,  therefore,  what  God's  love  has  done.  This 
world-wide  love  of  God  has  secured  for  all  sinful 
men  some  very  definite  and  specific  things,  some 
infinitely  precious  and  momentous  things. 

In  other  words,  God's  love  in  Christ  did  some- 
thing. What?  It  provided  an  atonement  suffi- 
cient for  every  sinner  of  all  the  world.  It  was  no 
commercial  affair — just  so  much  for  just  so  many. 
There  would  have  been  no  greater  sacrifice  needed 
if  all  the  world  were  to  be  saved.  There  would 
have  been  no  less  sacrifice  needed  if  only  one 
sinner  were  to  be  saved.  Whether  one  soul  or 
millions  multiplied  by  milHons,  the  sufficiency  is 
just  the  same.  Hence  it  comes  to  pass  that  no 
man  ever  perished,  or  ever  will  perish,  for  want 
of  an  atonement. 

Well,  what  else  did  God's  love  in  Christ  do  ? 
It  provided  an  atonement  for  sin  adapted  to 
every  sinner  of  all  the  world.  It  is  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  fit  into  every  human  need.  It  suits 
each  sinner's  case.  It  has  an  appropriateness 
born  of  its  inherent  and  infinite  worth.  No 
matter  who  the  sinner  is,  or  what  he  is  guilty  of, 
or  how  far  he  has  gotten  from  God,  or  how  near 
the  mouth  of  hell — beggar,  debtor,  sinner,  leper, 
— the  gift  of  God's  love  is  adapted  to  his  case. 
If  he  will  only  take  it,  it  is  his,  fitted  completely 


14  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

in  its  nature  and  in  its  conditions,  to  his  utmost 
need. 

But  is  there  anything  else  this  great  love  of 
God  in  Christ  did  ?  Yes,  a  third  great  thing — a 
most  remarkable  thing.  It  took  every  obstacle 
to  salvation  out  of  the  way  of  every  sinner  of  all 
the  world. 

Men  have  sinned — all  men.  Sin  is  lawlessness 
— without  law,  against  law,  in  spite  of  law.  And 
the  sovereignty  of  law  is  like  the  sovereignty  of 
God.  We  all  know  it  cannot  be  trifled  with. 
Law  must  be  upheld,  human  or  divine.  An- 
archists were  making  sport  of  it  a  few  years  ago 
at  Chicago.  They  jeered  at  its  penalty.  They 
grew  bolder  and  bolder.  Men  trembled  for  their 
homes.  A  very  riot  of  passion  and  lust  threat- 
ened to  take  the  city  by  the  throat.  But  what  a 
hush  came  upon  that  frenzied  anarchistic  mob 
when  law  in  her  majesty  took  a  few  of  them  and 
hanged  them  by  the  neck  till  they  were  dead ! 

Now  sin  is  moral  anarchy,  a  spiritual  revolt 
against  the  law  of  God.  And  law  is  nothing 
without  penalty.  So  there  stands  the  divine  law, 
in  its  imperial  majesty,  and  with  its  high  behests 
and  changeless  penalty — a  bar  to  every  sinner's 
salvation. 

By   God's  love  that  bar  has  been  taken   away. 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN   15 

Jesus  tasted  death  for  every  man,  and  so  bore  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world.  How  He  did  it  is  not 
now  the  question.  We  enter  into  no  discussion 
of  the  nature  of  the  atonement  or  the  philosophy 
of  the  atonement.  We  press  no  theory  of  the 
atonement.  The  blessed  fact  is  what  we  are 
after — that  somehow,  somehow  through  Christ's 
death,  every  legal  obstacle  to  salvation  is  re- 
moved; so  that  God  can  be  just,  yet  justify 
anybody  who  will  believe.  Law  is  upheld  and 
vindicated,  justice  is  satisfied,  the  Devil  is  silenced, 
holiness  is  kept  untarnished,  sin  gets  no  license, 
and  yet  sinners  can  be  saved !  Any  sinner,  any- 
where and  at  any  hour,  can  step  toward  heaven, 
assured  there  is  nothing  in  the  law,  nothing  in 
hell,  nothing  in  the  universe — nothing  outside  his 
own  heart — that  can  hinder  him  from  being  saved. 
While  outside  every  sinner's  heart  that  hears  the 
gospel  stands  the  compassionate  and  patient  Sa- 
viour, whom  the  love  of  God  has  brought  to  that 
heart's  door,  yearning  to  take  the  poor  bruised 
sinner  to  the  bosom  of  His  forgiving  grace,  if  he 
will  only  open  the  door. 

"  There  the  pierced  hand  still  knocketh; 
And  with  ever  patient  watching, 
With  the  sad  eyes  true  and  tender, 
With  the  glory  crowned  hair, 
Still  a  God  is  waiting  there." 


l6  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

This  is  the  attitude  in  which  this  great  gospel 
text  puts  the  infinite  God  with  respect  to  the  un- 
settled difficulty  between  God  and  man.  It  repre- 
sents God  as  seeking  the  sinner  until  He  finds 
him,  and  there  waiting  outside  the  heart's  door, 
saying,  "  If  any  man — any  man — hear  My  voice 
and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in." 

God  could  come  in  if  He  wanted  to,  by  riving 
that  door  in  twain,  by  trampling  down  the  will 
behind  it,  by  unmaking  the  man  He  has  made. 
But  what  would  such  a  shorn,  discrowned  thing 
be  worth,  with  no  choice  and  no  power  of  choice! 
What  would  man  be  to  God  if  robbed  of  that 
which  makes  him  only  a  little  lower  than  God — 
his  will  ?  So  God  says,  in  entire  respect  for  the 
sinner's  will,  "  If  any  man  will  open  the  door — I 
will  not  force  My  way.  He  must  let  Me  in." 
This  is  God's  attitude. 

And  it  brings  clearly  to  view  the  sinner's  atti- 
tude. Inside  the  heart's  door  we  find  it — inside 
every  heart's  door  that  has  not  been  opened  to 
Christ !  Call  the  attitude  what  you  please.  The 
Bible  calls  it  "enmity,"  "hatred,"  "rebeUion." 
These  may  seem  harsh  terms.  You  may  claim 
they  do  not  represent  your  real  attitude,  and  that 
your  feeling  toward  God  is  not  enmity  or  hatred. 
Well,  name  it  as  you  like.     Say  that  you  are  self- 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN   17 

satisfied,  indifferent,  unconcerned,  that  you  don't 
care — that  you  are  merely  preoccupied.  What- 
ever it  is,  that  attitude  represents  your  will.  It 
keeps  your  heart's  door  shut  against  God's  love. 
And  it  is  the  only  thing  in  the  universe  that  will 
ever  keep  you  out  of  heaven.  And  this  is  true  of 
everybody.  The  love  is  for  everybody.  The 
adaptation  is  for  everybody.  The  sufficiency  is 
for  everybody. 

Does  this  sound  like  a  narrow  and  bigoted 
creed  ?  Is  not  this  a  wide-open  and  liberal 
gospel  ?  Well,  this  is  Presbyterian  orthodoxy : 
preaching  a  "whosoever"  invitation  and  trying 
to  fill  heaven,  yet  charged  with  "staggering  at 
nothing  that  will  fill  hell." 

But  what  about  election  ?  Well,  what  about 
it  ?  There  is  nothing  in  this  text  about  it.  God 
so  loved  the  world — not  a  portion  of  the  world — 
not  the  elect.  Oh,  no  !  The  elect  are  only  a  part 
of  the  world  and  chosen  out  of  it.  But  this  love 
of  God  is  world-wide,  for  everybody,  without  a 
hint  of  election  in  it.  It  sweeps  away  out  beyond 
election,  and  has  no  metes  nor  boundaries;  no 
limitations ;  no  reservations.  God  so  loved  the 
world ! 

I  believe  in  election.  It  is  one  of  the  great 
basilar  truths  of  Scripture,  and  a  most  blessed  doc- 
2 


1 8  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

trine,  charged  with  infinite  stay  and  comfort  for 
God's  believing  children.  It  puts  the  Father's 
everlasting  arms  about  every  child  of  His,  and 
makes  it  certain  he  will  never  perish.  But  while 
it  clearly  and  definitely  includes  somebody,  it  just 
as  clearly  and  positively  excludes  nobody.  It 
makes  heaven  sure  for  the  chosen,  but  it  keeps  no 
one  out  of  heaven.  It  is  no  chain  gang  bound 
about  the  necks  of  men,  dragging  some  to  salva- 
tion and  some  to  perdition. 

To  illustrate.  Here  are  two  hundred  men  in 
prison  for  violation  of  law.  I  make  provision  for 
their  pardon,  so  that  justice  is  satisfied  and  law 
vindicated,  while  yet  the  prisoners  may  go  free. 
The  prison  doors  are  unbarred,  the  bolts  thrown 
back,  and  promise  of  absolute  pardon  is  made, 
and  assurance  is  given  every  prisoner  that  he 
can  now  step  out  a  free  man.  But  not  a  man 
moves.  Suppose  now  I  determine  that  my  pro- 
vision for  their  pardon  shall  not  be  in  vain.  So  I 
personally  go  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  those 
condemned  and  guilty  men,  and  by  a  kind  of 
loving  violence  persuade  them  to  come  out. 
That's  election.  But  have  I  kept  the  other  fifty 
in  ?  The  provision  for  pardon  is  still  sufficient, 
the  prison  doors  are  still  unbarred,  the  gates  of 
their  cells  are  still  unlocked  and  open,  and  free- 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN   19 

dom  is  promised  to  every  one  who  will  step  out 
and  take  it ;  and  every  man  in  that  prison  knoivs 
he  can  be  a  free  man  if  he  will.  Have  I  kept  the 
other  fifty  in  ? 

But  what  about  that  other  doctrine — one  of 
the  great  bulwarks  of  the  Reformed  or  Calvin- 
istic  faith — the  doctrine  of  God's  eternal  purpose  ? 
We  Presbyterians  believe  and  say  that  God  in 
infinite  knowledge  and  wisdom  did  from  eternity 
determine  all  that  comes  to  pass.  "  Well,  then," 
it  is  said  in  reply, — "  Well,  then,  if  everything  is 
included  in  this  eternal  plan,  and  all  events  are 
certain  to  come  to  pass  as  God  has  purposed 
they  should  come  to  pass,  what  room  is  there  for 
human  liberty?" 

Just  the  room  God  made  for  it  when  He  put 
it  in  His  eternal  plan.  The  same  God  that 
ordained  all  events  ordained  human  liberty  in  the 
midst  of  all  events.  The  freedom  of  man's  will 
is  therefore  just  as  surely  fixed  in  the  purpose 
of  God  as  anything  else  is  fixed,  and  is  just  as 
certain  to  be  as  anything  else  is  certain  to  be. 

Here  is  His  plan,  infinite  in  variety  and  com- 
plexity, reaching  from  everlasting  to  everlasting, 
and  in  the  midst  of  it  are  millions  of  free  wills, 
acting  and  interacting  and  reacting,  all  in  the  plan 
and  a  part  of  the  plan  placed  there  of  God,  He 


20  FROM  LOVE  TO  PFL-\ISE 

having  determined  in  His  almighty  power  and 
infinite  wisdom  that  these  millions  of  human  wills 
shall  keep  their  liberty  under  His  sovereignty. 
Thus  His  eternal  purpose  for  ever  makes  their 
freedom  sure,  so  that  neither  man  nor  devil  nor 
any  other  creature  in  this  world  or  in  any  world 
can  take  that  freedom  away. 

Hence  it  comes  to  pass  that  the  Scriptures 
can  say,  as  they  do  say,  that  Herod  and  Pontius 
Pilate  with  the  Gentiles  and  the  people  of  Israel 
"  were  gathered  together  to  do  whatsoever  God 
foreordained  should  come  to  pass " ;  yet  these 
same  Scriptures  can  say  that  these  men  crucified 
and  slew  Christ  with  •'  wicked  hands."  Listen  to 
the  babel  of  hell  round  the  cross,  and  tell  me  if 
those  men  were  not  free  !  Yet  read  all  the  fore- 
cast and  prophecy  and  record  of  the  tragedy  and 
tell  me  if  ever>^  incident  of  it  was  not  ordained 
of  God  ! 

Certainty,  therefore,  is  not  necessity.  Certainty 
was  not  necessity  in  the  crucifixion  of  Christ. 
And  if  it  was  not  in  that  case,  it  is  not  in  any 
case.  But  are  there  not  dreadful  things  in  the 
eternal  plan  of  God?  Surely!  Surely!  But  you 
do  not  get  rid  of  the  things  by  denying  the  plan. 
You  believe  in  God,  do  you  not ;  in  an  all-wise, 
all-loving,  all-mightj'  God  ?    But  you  must  square 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN   21 

this  belief  with  the  facts.  Here  is  sin,  right  here 
in  this  world.  Here  is  a  very  hell  on  earth.  Here 
are  deeps  of  anguish  and  broken  hearts  and  curses. 
Here  are  all  the  tragedies  and  all  the  infamies  and 
all  the  cruelties  of  sin,  plan  or  no  plan. 

Now,  either  God  did  not  know  these  things 
were  to  be,  and  so  was  an  ignorant  God ;  or,  He 
knew  and  did  not  care,  and  so  was  an  indifferent 
God,  Or  He  knew  and  cared,  but  could  not 
prevent,  and  so  was  an  impotent  God.  Or  He 
knew  and  cared  and  planned  in  infinite  wisdom 
and  love  and  power,  with  sin  and  hell  and  Calvary 
and  the  tragedies  and  the  infamies  and  the  damn- 
ing cruelties  all  in  the  plan,  embraced  of  God  in 
His  eternal,  wise,  holy,  and  loving  purpose,  but 
so  held  in  His  resistless  and  measureless  leash 
that  while  the  freedom  of  man  is  not  taken  away, 
nor  is  God  the  author  of  sin,  yet  in  His  provi- 
dence all  things  are  made  to  work  together  in 
fulfillment  of  His  sovereign  design  and  in  manifes- 
tation of  His  glory. 

So  it  is  we  believe  we  can  have,  and  do  have, 
freedom  under  sovereignty ;  liberty  in  the  midst 
of  certainty ;  personal  responsibility  yet  divine 
and  changeless  purpose ;  millions  of  wills  doing 
as  they  will  under  and  in  an  eternal  plan. 

So  it  is  we  stand  on  the  foundation  rock  of 


22  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

God's  sovereign  and  eternal  purpose,  yet  preach 
that  Jesus  Christ  tasted  death  for  every  man;  and 
that  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on 
Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life." 

And  so  to-day  we  blaze  our  banner  anew  and 
in  richer  color,  with  the  broad  and  blessed  device, 
"  God  so  loved  the  world,"  We  propose  a  new 
chapter  for  our  Confession  of  Faith,  and  it  begins 
and  ends  and  is  all  aflame  with  "  God  so  loved 
the  world."  We  make  a  brief  restatement  of  our 
doctrinal  beliefs,  and  we  put  these  doctrinal  beliefs 
in  Scriptural  proportion  and  perspective,  and 
bathe  them  throughout  as  they  are  bathed  in 
Scripture  with  God's  ineffable  and  immeasurable 
love  for  the  world. 

What  then  ?  Is  all  this  to  end  in  mere  credal 
statement  ?  God  forbid !  What  is  to  follow  ? 
Are  we  to  say,  "  Beloved,  if  God  so  loved  us,  we 
ought  also  to  love  one  another  "  ?  No.  Great 
as  that  truth  is,  and  clear  as  is  the  sequence,  it  is 
neither  the  truth  nor  the  sequence  for  this  hour. 
The  truth  that  faces  us  here  in  this  gospel  mes- 
sage is  not  God  so  loved  us,  but  God  so  loved 
the  world.  And  if  God  so  loved  the  world  the 
inspiring  sequence  is.  We  ought  to  be  stirred  with 
a  mighty  eagerness  to  let  the  whole  world  know 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN       23 

about  it.  Did  He  not  tell  us  to  go  and  do  this 
thing  ?  Have  we  been  swift  to  do  it  ?  It  is  nine- 
teen hundred  years  since  Christ  came  and  died 
that  His  disciples  might  go  and  preach  His  gospel 
to  every  creature,  and  hundreds  of  millions  in 
this  world  of  sin  have  not  heard  it  yet.  O  God, 
how  long!  Church  of  the  living  Christ,  how 
long !     How  long ! 

Presbyterian  men  of  wealth,  at  the  fore  in  vast 
commercial  enterprises,  captains  of  great  indus- 
tries, hesitating  at  nothing  in  the  way  of  venture 
for  the  kingdom  of  the  world ;  and  Christian 
women  of  affluence  and  influence,  acknowledged 
queens  of  fashion,  setting  the  pace  in  high  social 
functions,  and  hesitating  at  nothing  in  the  way 
of  indulgence  for  the  life  that  now  is ;  in  the 
name  of  God,  will  you  not  call  a  halt  on  these 
things  long  enough  to  listen  awhile  to  some 
voices  of  God  in  this  matter ! 

Listen !  "  God  so  loved  the  world."  What 
does  that  mean  to  you  ?  Hear  Paul,  the  apostle 
of  a  flaming  evangelism,  saying,  "  Brethren,  the 
time  is  short — literally,  the  opportunity  is  nar- 
rowed in ;  that  those  that  rejoice  may  be  as 
though  they  rejoiced  not,  and  those  that  buy  as 
though  they  possessed  not,  and  those  that  use 
this  world  as  not  abusing  it,  for  the  fashion  of 


24  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

this  world  passeth  away."  Hear  James,  the  prac- 
tical man-of-business  writer  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, saying,  "  Go  to  now,  ye  rich  men.  Are 
your  gold  and  silver  rusted  by  disuse  ?  Then 
the  rust  shall  be  a  witness  against  you,  and  shall 
eat  your  flesh  as  fire."  Hear  the  beloved  John, 
"If  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the 
Father  is  not  in  him."  Hear  the  Old  Testament 
prophet,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Let  not  the  wise 
man  glory  in  his  wisdom,  neither  let  the  mighty 
man  glory  in  his  might,  let  not  the  rich  man 
glory  in  his  riches :  but  let  him  that  glorieth 
glory  in  this,  that  he  understandeth  and  knoweth 
Me."  Hear  our  Lord  Himself,  "  Lay  not  up  for 
yourselves  treasures  upon  earth,  but  lay  up  for 
yourselves  treasures  in  heaven.  Ye  cannot  serve 
God  and  Mammon.  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a  rich  man, 
trusting  in  his  riches,  to  enter  into  the  kingdom. 
Be  not  anxious  what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye 
shall  drink,  or  what  ye  shall  wear.  These  things 
the  men  of  the  kingdom  of  the  world  seek.  But 
seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God."  Oh,  that  in  the 
swing  and  sweep  and  conquering  power  of  God's 
love  for  a  lost  world,  amidst  the  mighty  combina- 
tions of  these  captains  of  material  industries,  we 
might  have  a  vast  combination  for  the  kingdom 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  FOR  EVERY  MAN   25 

of  God !  Why  should  not  this  opening  century 
witness  a  great  trust  organized  by  Christian  mil- 
honaires  and  organized  exclusively  for  Christ !  Not 
to  advance  the  price  of  the  gospel,  for  heavenly 
merchandise  is  without  money  and  without  price, 
but  to  help  get  this  free  gift  of  God  at  once  to 
the  whole  world  of  dying  men !  Not  to  control 
the  market,  but  to  get  into  the  markets  of  all  the 
world  with  the  wares  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven ! 
So  that  into  every  mart  of  trade,  into  every  indus- 
trial center,  into  every  palace  and  hovel  of  sin,  into 
every  wild  moral  desert  on  earth  where  men  know 
so  much  Devil  that  they  do  not  believe  in  any  true 
God,  shall  be  sent  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Christian  man  or  woman  of  wealth,  is  it  not 
easily  possible  that  God  is  calling  you  to  the 
kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this  ? 

Why  not  take  the  lead,  and  concert  a  move- 
ment that  shall  be  organized  wholly  with  a  view 
to  a  world-wide  evangelism  beginning  with  this 
opening  century — a  movement  that  shall  make 
the  century  preeminently  a  kingdom-of-God  cen- 
tury, so  that  instead  of  prophecy  we  shall  have 
history,  and  the  shout  shall  ring  around  the 
world,  "  the  kingdom  of  the  world  is  become  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ!" 


II 

EMPTYING  THE   SEPULCHRE 
OF   A   DEAD   SOUL 


II 

EMPTYING  THE   SEPULCHRE  OF  A  DEAD   SOUL 
"  Lazarus,  come  forth." — John  xi.  43. 

Miracles  have  been  called  parables  in  action. 
Some  writers  maintain  that  in  the  bosom  of  each 
great  miracle  of  the  New  Testament  lies  a  great 
spiritual  truth  ;  that  over  and  above  the  evidential 
purpose  of  these  divine  interpositions  there  is  a 
clear  design  of  instruction  on  some  vital  point 
pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  In  this  record 
of  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  the  allegorizing 
interpreters  have  found  a  fruitful  field,  claiming 
that  "  the  whole  process  of  the  sinner's  restoration 
from  the  death  of  sin  to  a  perfect  spiritual  life  "  is 
here  shadowed  forth.  Without  attempting  to 
determine  how  far,  if  to  any  extent  at  all,  an  alle- 
gorical interpretation  of  the  miracles  is  justified, 
it  will  not  be  questioned  by  any  that  these  mighty 
and  divine  deeds  of  Christ  are  often  beautifully 
illustrative  of  spiritual  truth.  Thickly  scattered 
through  the  Scriptures  are  figures  of  speech  that 
make    this    unmistakable.      How    often    spiritual 

29 


30  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

states  are  represented  under  physical  aspects 
and  conditions !  Sin  is  a  leprosy — the  sinner  a 
leper.  How  natural,  therefore,  in  the  miracle 
of  the  healing  of  the  leper,  to  trace  the  striking 
analogies  between  that  and  the  spiritual  healing 
by  which  a  soul  is  rid  of  the  leprosy  of  sin. 
Sin  is  a  blindness,  and  the  sinner  is  represented 
as  groping  in  the  darkness,  "  feeling  after  God." 
How  clearly  warranted,  therefore,  it  is,  in  the 
use  of  the  miracle  of  the  healing  of  Bartimseus 
or  of  the  man  born  blind,  to  note  and  emphasize 
the  beautiful  and  effective  correspondences  be- 
tween those  restorations  of  physical  sight  and  the 
exercise  of  that  power  by  which  a  blinded  soul  is 
led  to  see  God.  So  in  the  Scriptures,  sin  is  death 
— the  sinner  is  said  to  be  "  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins."  Unquestionably,  therefore,  the  miracle  of 
the  raising  of  Lazarus  must  furnish  some  marked 
points  of  resemblance  to  the  miracle  of  the  resur- 
rection of  a  dead  soul.  Indeed,  right  in  the 
bosom  of  the  record  of  Lazarus'  resurrection  we 
find  that  the  material  fact  is  made,  by  Jesus,  the 
occasion  of  expressing  the  profound  corresponding 
Scriptural  truth,  "  I  am  the  resurrection,  and  the 
life :  he  that  believeth  on  Me,  though  he  die,  yet 
shall  he  live ;  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth 
on  Me  shall  never  die." 


EMPTYING  THE  SEPULCHRE  OF  A  DEAD  SOUL  31 

With  this  clear  warrant  for  our  course,  let  us 
see  how  a  sepulchre  was  emptied  at  Bethany. 
Possibly  we  may  the  better  see  thereby  how  some 
sepulchres  of  sin  about  us,  where  our  loved  ones 
lie  spiritually  dead,  may  be  spoiled  of  their  pos- 
sessions. 

It  is  apparent,  at  the  outset,  that  under  this 
figure  of  death  we  shall  find  nothing  answering 
to  the  sinner's  own  agency  in  securing  eternal 
Hfe.  That  corpse  in  the  tomb  of  Bethany  will 
remain  cold  and  stiff  until  the  word  of  Christ 
thrill  it  again  with  new  vitality.  The  dead  can 
take  no  steps  for  their  own  resurrection.  So  the 
miracle  will  give  us  nothing  illustrative  of  the 
sinner's  sense  of  need  and  penitent  confession  and 
cry  for  mercy. 

Vital  as  these  are  if  a  sinner  is  ever  to  be 
saved,  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  it  is  under  the 
fact  and  figure  of  death  the  sinner  is  here  repre- 
sented. And  the  dead  can  tell  no  need  and  make 
no  cry. 

Remembering,  therefore,  that  no  single  miracle 
or  parable  or  teaching  of  God's  word  brings  out 
all  sides  of  any  great  truth,  let  us  see  what  there 
is  in  this  record  of  the  raising  of  the  dead  Lazarus 
that  finds  a  voice  for  our  instruction  and  spiritual 
profit. 


32  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

The  incidents  of  the  resurrection  group  them- 
selves under  three  heads: — 
I.  The  human  antecedents. 
II.  The  divine  quickening. 

III.  The  human  consequent. 

L  The  Human  Antecedents. — ( i)  Prayer  was  one 
of  them.  Jesus  was  sought.  "  Lord,  behold,  he 
whom  Thou  lovest  is  sick."  A  message.  A  prayer. 
A  request.  Lazarus  was  sick — probably  danger- 
ously sick — and  it  was  the  instinct  of  these  loving, 
sisterly  hearts  to  tell  their  Lord  about  it.  They 
knew  He  had  power  to  help,  for  had  He  not 
healed  many  ?  Surely  He  would  hasten  to  put 
His  healing  touch  upon  Lazarus,  and  bid  the 
fever  depart.  But  the  Lord  did  not  hasten ;  "  for 
He  loved  Martha  and  her  sister  and  Lazarus," 
and  "  abode,  therefore,  two  days  in  the  place 
where  He  was."  Because  He  loved,  therefore. 
He  waited.  Marvelous  sequitur.  Yet  it  is  often 
the  Lord's  way.  Whom  He  loves  He  seems  to 
refuse,  that  they  may  grow  to  something  more 
Godlike  in  the  fiery  trial  of  unsatisfied  longing 
and  strange  delay,  and  that  they  may  see  the 
greater  glory  of  God  as  the  issue  of  the  matter. 

Yet  Jesus  must  be  sent  for.  Delay  may  come 
by  that  road,  but  help  will  come  by  no  other.  It 
is  said  of  the  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist  when 


EMPTYING  THE  SEPULCHRE  OF  A  DEAD  SOUL  33 

he  was  beheaded  that  "  they  took  up  the  body, 
and  buried  it,  and  went  and  told  Jesus."  That  is 
the  one  thing  we  are  to  do  in  any  difficulty,  and 
especially  in  a  difficulty  of  death — as  when  a 
brother  or  sister  lies  spiritually  dead  and  friends 
hopelessly  weep  at  the  sepulchre.  Restraint, 
reformation,  watch,  care — the  use  of  these,  even 
with  suffering  and  sorrow — cannot  raise  the  dead. 
As  well  lift  a  mountain  from  its  base  with  wisps 
of  tow.  If  in  any  home  or  church  or  place  of 
toil  and  tears  we  would  see  one  of  these  spiritual 
sepulchres  emptied,  we  must  send  for  Jesus — 
"  Lord,  behold,  he  whom  Thou  lovest  is  sick." 

(2)  Faith  was  another  human  antecedent  in  this 
miracle  of  resurrection.  Jesus  was  sought  and 
brought.  He  was  sent  for  and  He  came.  He 
was  so  sent  for  that  He  was  led  to  come.  It  was 
the  faith  embosomed  in  the  message  that  made  it 
efficacious.  The  word  of  these  troubled  sisterly 
hearts  to  Jesus  breathed  a  loving  and  reverent 
trust.  And  all  the  incidents  of  the  touching  nar- 
rative show  that  Martha  and  Mary  confided  in 
the  Lord  in  a  beautiful  and  undisturbed  way,  even 
though  He  had  delayed  His  coming  until  their 
brother  Lazarus  was  dead  and  buried  four  days. 
"  Even  now,"  says  Martha,  "  even  now,  I  know 
that  whatsoever  Thou  shalt  ask  of  God,  God  will 
3 


34  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

give  Thee."  And  again  she  says,  "  Yea,  Lord :  I 
believe  that  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God, 
which  should  come  into  the  world." 

"  All  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth." 
This  seems  a  wide  sweep  for  so  human  a  thing 
as  faith.  But  it  is  just  the  "  wideness  of  God's 
mercy."  Read  the  roll  call  of  sainted  worthies 
in  the  eleventh  of  Hebrews  and  see  how  the 
record  of  achievement  stretches  to  the  broadness 
of  promise.  "  Kingdoms,"  "  lions,"  "  fire," 
"  sword,"  "  floods,"  "  armies,"  succumbed  to 
faith.  Even  "death"  was  no  exception.  "Women 
received  their  dead  raised  to  life  again."  Faith 
commanded  Christ  at  the  door  of  the  tomb  of 
Lazarus,  and  Christ  commanded  the  dead.  Faith 
is  just  as  surely  the  human  antecedent  to  the 
resurrection  of  a  dead  soul.  Prayer  is  our  mes- 
sage sent  to  Jesus,  but  faith  must  throb  through 
the  prayer  if  the  message  is  to  bring  Him.  The 
form  of  the  prayer  is  nothing.  The  spirit  of  the 
prayer  is  everything.  It  may  be  a  broken  cry,  a 
groaning  "  that  cannot  be  uttered  " — a  sweet,  low, 
humble  "  Help  me.  Lord " — a  mere  statement, 
"He  whom  Thou  lovest  is  sick,"  thus  "giving  the 
Lord  information,"  as  this  kind  of  prayer  has 
been  derisively  called  by  those  who  would  have 
prayers  hewn  to  a  certain  Hne,  as  if  manufactured 


EMPTYING  THE  SEPULCHRE  OF  A  DEAD  SOUL  35 

in  a  shop.  How  these  critics  of  the  letter  have 
flung  their  shafts  of  wit  at  the  praying  that  tells 
God  something !  But  Martha  and  Mary  prayed 
so.  And  Jesus  read  between  and  beneath  the 
lines  ;  saw  their  faith,  and  came. 

But  what  must  faith  grasp  in  pleading  with 
Christ  to  raise  the  dead  ?  Two  distinct  things. 
"  Believest  thou  this  ?"  Christ  asks  of  Martha, 
standing  by  the  tomb  of  her  dead  brother.  His 
question  is  definite.  It  passes  on  beyond  the  mate- 
rial fact  to  the  spiritual  truth ;  from  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  to  the  resurrection  and  eternal 
life  of  a  dead  soul.  He  has  pointed  out  a  specific 
thing  faith  is  to  take  hold  of.  It  is  in  the  words, 
"  I  am  the  resurrection,  and  the  life :  he  that 
believeth  on  Me,  though  he  die,  yet  shall  he  live; 
and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  on  Me,  shall 
never  die."  And  his  question  is,  "  Believest  thou 
this  ?"  The  specific  thing  is  power.  Christ  is 
able.  It  is  this  faith  is  to  grasp.  Not  simply  that 
whatsoever  Christ  asks  of  God,  God  will  give, 
but  the  deeper  truth,  that  Christ  Himself  is  the 
resurrection.  Almightiness  is  in  the  good  right 
hand  of  Him  whom  we  summon  to  raise  our 
dead.  This  we  are  to  believe  when  we  send  for 
Him.  Mark  now  how  this  point  gets  emphasis  in 
this  miracle  of  the  raising  of  Lazarus.    Remember, 


36  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

this  is  the  miracle  that  Hnks  itself  closest  with 
spiritual  resurrection.  Embosomed  in  the  record 
of  it  is  Christ's  great,  fathomless  word,  "  I  am 
the  resurrection."  And  hence  this  is  the  miracle 
in  which  His  power  stands  out  conspicuous. 
There  are  other  resurrections.  The  daughter  of 
Jairus  comes  back  to  life ;  but  possibly  that  was 
a  swoon,  says  unbelief.  The  son  of  the  widow 
of  Nain  is  made  to  rise  from  his  bier ;  but  that, 
too,  may  have  been  a  case  of  suspended  anima- 
tion, urges  the  doubter.  Lazarus,  however,  has 
been  dead  four  days — dead  and  buried.  The 
case  is  to  be  signal.  There  shall  be  "  no  hinge 
or  loop  to  hang  a  doubt  on."  Next  to  Christ's 
own  resurrection,  this  is  the  miracle  of  power. 
"  Take  ye  away  the  stone."  "  But  Lord,"  says 
Martha,  "  by  this  time  he  stinketh."  The  revisers 
have  done  well  to  keep  this  old  Saxon  word.  It 
is  an  element  in  the  record  adding  to  the  proof 
of  power.  Suppose  it  be  true  that  corruption  is 
already  there  fastened  on  that  dead  body.  "  Take 
ye  away  the  stone."  Back  corruption  must  go. 
The  Lord  of  life  is  at  the  tomb. 

The  case  is  extreme,  and  we  may  well  add, 
purposely  extreme,  that  Christ's  power  over  death 
may  be  put  to  the  utmost  possible  proof  And 
the  point  for  faith  is  that  there  can  be  no  case  of 


EMPTYING  THE  SEPULCHRE  OF  A  DEAD  SOUL  37 

a  dead  soul  so  bad,  so  dead  in  sin,  so  given  over 
to  corruption,  as  to  be  beyond  the  might  of 
Christ's  resurrection.  This  is  one  distinctive 
thing  faith  is  to  grasp  in  asking  Jesus  to  raise  our 
dead — that  He  is  able.     "  Believest  thou  this  ?" 

The  other  distinctive  thing  is  this :  that  He  is 
willing.  We  have  seen  that  the  exceeding  great- 
ness of  the  mighty  power  of  resurrection  is  with 
Jesus.  Is  there  with  Him  also  that  other  subtle, 
indispensable  thing — sympathy  ?  We  make  bold 
to  say  the  record  of  this  miracle  gives,  and  was 
meant  to  give,  the  most  precious  and  questionless 
proof  of  it. 

Mark  the  message  itself  by  which  these  sisters 
summoned  Jesus :  "  He  whom  Thou  lovest  is 
sick."  We  can  say  that,  and  be  sure  we  are  not 
going  too  far  in  saying  it,  when  we  send  for  Jesus 
to  come  and  raise  our  dead.  Does  He  not  love 
those  who  are  spiritually  dead  in  our  homes  ? 
How  was  it  with  us  when  we  were  "  dead  in  sins  "  ? 
Was  it  not  His  love  for  us  that  brought  Him  to 
our  sepulchre  ?  Is  it  not  our  joyful  and  unbroken 
testimony  that  we  love  Him  "  because  He  first 
loved  us  "  ?  And  did  not  His  original  unbribed 
love  for  the  world  that  was  dead,  lead  Him  to 
that  dreadful  travail  of  death  by  which  He  was 
made  "  the  resurrection  and  the  life,"  so  that  now, 


38  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

whosoever,  whosoever  believeth  in  Him,  shall 
never  die  ?  See,  too,  how  along  the  track  of  the 
record  of  this  miracle  the  sympathy  of  Christ  gets 
most  special  and  tender  mention,  the  signs  and 
tokens  being  so  varied  and  beautiful  and  affecting 
that  the  tomb  of  Lazarus,  by  consent  of  Chris- 
tendom, has  come  to  be  the  place  where  Christians 
oftenest  go  when  they  would  see  Jesus  "  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities."  Note  His 
quick  assurance  to  Martha,  as  if  to  relieve  her 
troubled  heart,  "  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again  "  ; 
and  the  deeper  truth  that  follows.  See  how  He 
"  groaned  in  the  spirit,  and  was  troubled  "  when 
He  saw  the  weeping  of  Mary  and  her  friends. 
And  who  that  reads  the  story  does  not  feel  that 
the  sweetest  juices  and  flowers  in  all  God's  garden 
of  consolation  have  been  brought  together  and 
made  to  yield  their  balm  and  fragrance  in  those 
two  words,  "  Jesus  wept "  ?  And  if  His  cheeks 
were  indeed  wet  with  tears,  and  He  groaned  in 
the  spirit,  and  His  heart  was  full  to  weeping  in 
the  sympathy  of  sorrow  as  He  came  to  answer 
the  prayer  of  Martha  and  Mary ;  and  if  He  tied 
that  bodily  resurrection,  with  all  its  marv^elous 
setting. of  power  and  tenderness,  to  the  spiritual 
resurrection ;  and  if  He  is  Jesus  Christ,  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever;  then  the  sympathy 


EMPTYING  THE  SEPULCHRE  OF  A  DEAD  SOUL  39 

no  less  than  the  power,  then  that  He  is  willing 
no  less  than  that  He  is  able,  is  a  distinct  thing 
that  our  faith  is  to  take  hold  of  when  we  ask 
Him  to  come  and  raise  our  beloved  dead.  Child 
of  God,  weeping  at  the  sepulchre  of  some  dear 
soul  dead  in  sin,  "  believest  thou  this?" 

(3)  Effort  was  a  third  human  antecedent  in  the 
miracle  of  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus.  Prayer 
and  faith  were  not  without  "  works."  Jesus  was 
not  only  sought  and  brought,  but  obeyed.  "  Take 
ye  away  the  stone."  And  not  until  that  stone 
was  taken  away  by  human  hands  did  the  divane 
quickening  come  to  the  dead. 

But  could  not  this  Man  who  brought  Lazarus 
from  the  sepulchre  have  brought  him  right 
through  the  ribbed  rock  ?  Certainly  He  could. 
And  "  could  not  this  Man  who  opened  the  eyes 
of  him  that  was  blind  have  caused  that  this  man 
also  should  not  die  "  ?  Certainly.  It  was  not  a 
question  of  power  in  either  case,  but  of  wise  and 
gracious  design.  The  death  of  Lazurus  was  for 
the  glory  of  God.  But  it  is  not  to  the  glory  of 
God  for  Him  to  do  a  thing  that  man  could 
do.  God  never  performs  a  superfluous  work. 
He  could  raise  crops  without  plow  or  harrow  or 
sowing  of  seed,  but  let  a  Christian  farmer,  who 
believes    in    God    and    prays    for   a  good   crop, 


40  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

attempt  to  get  a  harvest  by  prayer  and  faith 
without  "  works,"  and  see  if  God  will  stock  his 
granaries !  If  God  has  tied  his  blessing  to  any 
one  law,  it  is  to  the  law  of  the  use  of  means. 
Search  the  Scriptures  through,  and  not  one 
instance  will  be  found  of  God's  doing  a  work 
that  could  be  done  by  man.  "  How  many  loaves 
have  ye?"  "Five,  Lord;  but  what  are  they  to 
feed  five  thousand  ?"  No  matter.  It  is  in  the 
use  of  the  means  at  our  command  we  find  the 
miracle  of  enlargement  and  life.  It  is  on  the 
basis  of  the  natural  God  builds  the  supernatural. 
"  Work  out  your  own  salvation,  .  .  .  for  it  is  God 
which  worketh  in  you."  "  Take  ye  away  the 
stone."  If  that  had  not  been  done  we  may  fear- 
lessly say  Lazarus  would  not  have  been  raised. 

Now  at  the  door  of  many  a  spiritual  sepulchre 
there  is  a  stone  that  needs  to  be  taken  away — a 
stone  of  doubt  or  indifference,  a  stone  of  preju- 
dice or  enmity,  a  stone  of  false  security,  a  stone 
of  lying  refuge — some  stone  that  human  hands — 
your  hands — may  roll  away  from  the  door  of  the 
tomb,  so  as  to  make  an  open  way  for  the  power 
of  Christ's  resurrection.  The  power  that  can 
empty  a  sepulchre  and  thrill  the  dead  with  life, 
can  certainly  rive  a  stone  at  the  mouth  of  the 
sepulchre,  and  cleave  a  way  for  the  new-born  soul 


EMPTYING  THE  SEPULCHRE  OF  A  DEAD  SOUL  41 

through  any  refuge  of  lies  or  rock  of  offense. 
But  it  is  not  a  question  of  power.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion on  God's  side  of  gracious  design  and  wise 
command ;  on  man's  side  of  trust  and  obedience. 
"  Take  ye  away  the  stone,"  He  says  to  Christian 
parents  who  have  asked  Him  to  raise  their  dead 
child.  Something  is  to  be  done,  and  done  by 
them,  before  Christ  will  work  His  work  of  resur- 
rection. "  Faith  Cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing 
by  the  word."  And  it  may  be  Christ  waits  for 
that  word  to  be  spoken  by  these  Christian  parents 
before  He  will  speak.  Breaking  the  silence  will 
then  be  "  rolling  away  the  stone  "  ?  A  tender, 
loving,  urgent,  faithful  personal  word  from  the 
heart  of  a  mother  to  an  impenitent  son,  from  the 
heart  of  a  teacher  to  a  wayward  scholar,  from  the 
heart  of  a  wife  to  an  unbelieving  husband,  may  be 
the  human  antecedent  for  which  God  waits  ere 
He  bid  the  dead  come  forth, 

"  Lord,  he  hath  been  dead  four  days."  That 
was  the  suggestion  of  Martha's  unbelief.  Her 
faith  staggered  at  the  command  to  take  away 
the  stone,  in  view  of  the  time  corruption  had 
been  allowed  to  do  its  work.  But  does  not  this 
scene  often  repeat  itself  at  the  sepulchres  of  the 
spiritually  dead  ?  Jesus  has  been  sent  for  by 
some  believing  mother.     And  all  her  heart  has 


42  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

gone  out  in  the  message,  "  Lord,  He  whom  Thou 
lovest  is  in  the  bonds  of  death."  Her  faith,  too, 
has  taken  hold  of  the  two  specific  things  that 
faith  must  grasp.  She  beheves  in  the  power  and 
she  beheves  in  the  sympathy  of  Him  who  is  the 
resurrection  and  the  hfe.  He  has  come  in  answer 
to  her  message  and  at  the  command  of  her  faith. 
He  is  at  the  tomb  of  the  dead  soul.  And  He 
says  to  the  weeping  mother,  "  Take  ye  away  the 
stone."  "  But  Lord,  he  has  been  hardened  by 
years  of  impenitency  and  unbelief  He  is  embit- 
tered against  the  truth.  I  fear  he  will  not  brook 
a  word  concerning  this  matter  of  personal  religion. 
I  cannot  speak  to  him."  What  is  this  but 
Martha's  "  Lord,  he  hath  been  dead  four  days." 
Surely  the  lesson  is  plain.  The  human  ante- 
cedents of  the  work  of  God  in  salvation  include 
the  use  of  all  appropriate,  possible  means.  Prayer, 
faith,  and  effort  are  the  triple  obligation.  We 
must  send  for  Christ,  believe  in  Christ,  and  obey 
Christ,  if  we  would  sing  our  joyful  Easter  song 
over  the  risen.  Prayer,  however  importunate, 
and  faith,  however  seemingly  confident,  if  they 
shrink  from  possible  service  and  halt  at  opportu- 
nity and  neglect  legitimate  means,  and  turn  away 
from  any  open  door  of  influence,  are  leaving  the 
stone  at  the  door  of  the  sepulchre.     Who  shall 


EMPTYING  THE  SEPULCHRE  OF  A  DEAD  SOUL  43 

say  how  many  sepulchres  that  now  hold  beloved 
dead  would  have  been  emptied  long  ago  if  those 
who  wept  and  prayed  there  had  taken  away  the 
stone ! 

II.  The  Divine  Quickening. — Let  us  get  back  to 
Bethany  and  contemplate  the  next  step  in  this 
miracle  of  the  resurrection.  It  is  the  step  of  God 
— the  fathomless  mystery  of  life  from  death,  the 
divine  quickening.  We  have  seen  how  Martha 
was  staggered  at  the  command  of  the  Master  to 
take  away  the  stone.  Listen  now,  every  heart 
doubting  and  weeping  at  some  spiritual  sepulchre 
— listen,  and  see  with  what  answering  word  Christ 
quiets  Martha's  fears  and  dissipates  her  doubt! 
"  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if  thou  believedst, 
thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God  ?"  And  the 
record  is,  "  So  they  took  away  the  stone."  And 
now  the  human  antecedents — the  prayer,  the 
faith,  the  effort — are  complete.  These  can  no  far- 
ther go.  There  is  no  more  that  they  can  do. 
The  case  is  between  Christ  and  the  dead.  Will 
He  prove  Himself  indeed  the  resurrection  and  the 
life?  He  breaks  the  silence  of  that  just-opened 
tomb.  And  more  :  He  pierces  the  deeper  silence 
beyond.  Back  into  life  He  summons  the  body; 
back  into  the  body  He  summons  (from  what 
world,  who  can  tell  ?)  the  immortal  spirit.     "  Laz- 


44  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

arus,  come  forth."  And  he  that  was  dead  is 
alive  again,  and  comes  forth,  the  hving  proof  that 
the  Lord  of  hfe  and  death  is  at  that  sepulchre's 
door.  This  is  the  divine  quickening.  It  is  instant, 
immediate,  personal,  absolute,  exclusive  of  every- 
thing human,  calling  for  no  intervention  or 
adjunct,  and  allowing  none.  The  process,  the 
method,  how  corruption  is  spoiled  of  its  prey  and 
the  dead  Lazarus  is  made  alive,  we  know  not. 
One  thing  we  know — the  tomb  is  empty,  and 
there  stands  the  living  Lazarus. 

How  like  this  is  to  the  divine  quickening  in  the 
spiritual  resurrection !  Prayer  must  be  offered, 
faith  must  be  exercised,  every  possible  influence 
must  be  brought  to  bear — Jesus  must  be  sought 
and  brought  and  obeyed — we  must  send  for  Him 
if  we  would  have  any  power  of  resurrection 
wrought,  we  must  believe  that  He  is  able  and  will- 
ing to  raise  the  dead,  we  must  take  away  the 
stone  from  the  door  of  the  sepulchre ;  but  we  reach 
a  point  in  every  case  where  it  is  between  Christ 
and  the  dead  alone — no  human  hand  to  help,  no 
word  from  our  lips,  no  intervention  of  prayer  or 
faith  or  instrument  of  any  sort,  but  the  immediate, 
instant,  and  almighty  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  on 
a  dead  soul,  thrilling  it  at  once  and  for  ever  with 
the  power  of  an  endless  life.     We  cannot  explain 


EMPTYING  THE  SEPULCHRE  OF  A  DEAD  SOUL  45 

it.  We  cannot  understand  it.  To  be  born  out 
of  this  death  in  sin  into  this  Hfe  with  Christ  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  is  the  profoundest  of 
mysteries.  The  method,  the  process,  we  know 
not.  But  the  fact  we  know.  There  is  the  vacant 
tomb.  And  there  is  the  hving  Lazarus.  And 
there  are  the  two  sisters  with  the  tears  still  in 
their  eyes,  but  the  glory  shining  through,  saying, 
"  This,  our  brother,  was  dead,  and  is  alive  again ; 
and  was  lost,  and  is  found." 

III.  The  Human  Co7iscque7it. — Is  the  process 
complete?  No.  There  is  just  one  more  step  in 
the  scene  of  this  resurrection.  "  Loose  him,  and 
let  him  go."  This  is  the  human  consequent 
of  the  divine  quickening.  Lazarus  "came  forth, 
bound  hand  and  foot  with  grave-clothes :  and 
his  face  was  bound  about  with  a  napkin."  Surely 
Christ,  by  His  lightning  word,  could  have  torn 
those  cerements  of  the  tomb  to  shreds.  What 
were  they,  compared  to  death's  bands !  But 
death's  bands  could  only  be  loosed  by  God. 
These  grave-bands  any  man  could  unfasten.  And 
so  Christ's  command  is,  "  Loose  him,  and  let 
him  go." 

Here,  again,  we  have  apt  and  striking  illustra- 
tion of  what  is  true  in  spiritual  resurrection. 
When  a  soul  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  is  made 


46  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

alive  in  Christ  Jesus  it  is  still  bound  by  a  great 
deal  that  belonged  to  that  dead  past.  God  plants 
life,  and  hence  resurrection.  But  God  does  not 
change  outward  conditions,  and  hence  the  cere- 
ments of  old  habit  and  old  association  are  still 
wound  round  and  round  that  risen  soul.  It  is 
wrapped  in  the  grave-clothes  of  silence  and  igno- 
rance. It  is  tongue-tied  and  foot-bound  and  hand- 
pinioned,  unfitted  yet  for  the  toil  and  song  and 
high  liberty  of  Christian  discipleship.  Oh,  how 
many  risen  Lazarus's  there  are  that  have  never 
been  loosed  and  let  go  by  the  Christian  Church  ! 
They  have  come  forth  out  of  their  graves ;  they 
can  no  longer  be  numbered  among  the  dead ; 
they  show  the  signs  of  resurrection,  but  there 
they  are,  largely  useless  to  the  church,  dumb 
Lazarus's,  "bound  hand  and  foot  with  grave- 
clothes."  They  may  like  to  hear,  but  they  do 
not  "love  to  tell,  the  old,  old  story";  and  they 
could  not  tell  it  if  they  liked,  for  their  faces  are 
"  bound  about  with  a  napkin." 

The  duty  is  clear  and  imperative.  Divine 
quickening  should  have  this  human  consequent. 
Resurrection  should  be  followed  by  loosening. 
To  see  a  living  soul  tied  about  with  these  trap- 
pings of  the  tomb  is  a  gross  unseemliness.  It  is 
robbing  the  Church  of  efficiency.     It  is  lessening 


EMPTYING  THE  SEPULCHRE  OF  A  DEAD  SOUL  47 

the  power  of  a  witnessing  discipleship.  It  is  bind- 
ing feet  that  should  be  running  in  the  way  of 
God's  commandment.  It  is  silencing  tongues  that 
should  be  eloquent  with  unrestrained  and  loving 
speech. 

"  Loose  him,  and  let  him  go  "  is  Christ's  com- 
mand to  the  living  whenever  the  dead  arise.  Be 
swift,  O  Church  of  God,  to  help  each  newly  risen 
soul  that  comes  forth  from  the  sepulchre  of  sin ! 
By  instruction,  by  encouragement,  by  sympathy, 
by  counsel,  by  new  association,  by  judicious 
stimulus,  by  incitement  to  service,  by  removal 
of  hindrance,  loose  him !  Let  the  resurrection 
life  have  resurrection  liberty.  Then,  indeed,  will 
each  resurrection  scene  be  complete.  Human 
antecedents  on  the  one  side ;  human  consequent 
on  the  other ;  in  the  midst,  Jesus  only.  At  the 
initiation,  prayer,  faith,  effort — human  agency — 
"Take  ye  away  the  stone."  At  the  conclusion, 
still  further  effort — human  agency — "  Loose  him, 
and  let  him  go."  At  the  supreme,  central,  trans- 
cendent moment,  nothing  but  the  exceeding  great- 
ness of  the  mighty  power  of  God — "  Lazarus, 
come  forth." 


Ill 

THE   WORD   OF   GOD 
AS   A   CHARACTER-BUILDER 


Ill 

THE  WORD    OF  GOD  AS  A  CHARACTER-BUILDER 

"  And  the  word  of  God  abideth  in  you." — I  John  ii.  14. 

This  age  is  robust.  It  is  marked  by  a  preva- 
lent study  of  force.  Athleticism  is  having  its  say 
in  all  realms,  and  with  a  will.  Weakness  is 
deemed  ignoble — almost  a  crime.  Young  men 
of  to-day  and  young  women,  too,  are  fairly 
assaulted  with  the  idea  that  they  must  get  a 
great  deal  of  vigorous,  tenacious  fiber  into  their 
character,  or  go  to  the  wall.  And  the  suspicion 
is  abroad,  lurking  secretly  in  many  minds,  openly 
avowed  by  others,  that  the  Christian  religion  is 
not  equal  to  the  emergency;  that  Christianity 
does  not  furnish  the  stuff  the  character  for  our 
times  needs  to  be  made  of  Let  us  look  at  this 
matter.  It  will  be  doing  good  service  to  vindicate 
the  Bible  to  intelligent  judgment  as  a  formative 
force  in  character.  Our  theme  is,  the  Bible  as  a 
character-builder. 

If  a  ballot  were  taken,  asking  any  given  num- 
ber of  men  or  women  of  average  intelligence  to 

51 


52  FROM  LOVE  TO  PFL\ISE 

name  the  elements  that  go  to  make  up  the  noblest 
character,  there  would  probably  be  considerable 
diversity'  of  reply.  But,  without  a  doubt,  the  great 
body  of  them  would  include,  in  one  or  another 
form  of  statement,  at  least  these  three  elements : 
Heartiness,  Fixedness,  Aggressiveness.  If  to 
these  three  were  added  three  others — viz.,  the 
Courage  of  Repose,  the  Power  of  Reser\'e,  and 
Self-sacrifice,  we  should  have  a  fairly  full  list  of 
qualities  for  fine  character-building. 

Physical  force  is  not  named  in  this  category, 
for,  while  that  is  a  good  thing  to  have,  it  is  a 
brute  thing,  and  often  associated  with  meanness 
and  cowardice.  Character  pertains  to  spirit,  not 
to  muscle.  As  a  base  and  instrument  for  exploits, 
too  much  cannot  be  said  in  favor  of  physical 
force.  But,  after  all  you  have  said  of  it,  you  have 
scarcely  touched  the  hem  of  the  garment  of  real 
character.  See  the  morning  papers  chronicHng 
the  universit}'  boat-race  or  football  game  of  the 
day  before,  voicing  their  eulog}^  after  this  fashion : 
"  Muscle  has  won  and  won  in  gallant  style."  "  It 
was  beef,  ample,  well-trained  beef,  overmatching 
younger  stuff,  equally  well  trained  and  far  better 
coached,  but  there  was  not  so  much  of  it."  Surely 
an  ideal  character  is  not  to  be  characterized  as 
"  beef"     So  we  leave  out  physical  force. 


THE  WORD  AS  A  CHARACTER-BUILDER     53 

Physical  courage  is  not  named  as  an  element 
of  character,  for  that  every^  bulldog  has.  Moral 
courage  is  not  named,  for  that  interpenetrates  the 
whole  group  of  desirable  qualities,  and  is  com- 
prehended in  each  and  all. 

I.  Heartiness. — Say  what  we  will  about  the 
glory  of  the  intellect,  after  all,  the  heart  is  the 
man.  Call  the  roll  of  deeds  that  have  made  the 
world  ring  with  applause,  and  you  will  find  it 
was  the  heart  behind  them  that  put  into  the  deeds 
their  immortal  quality.  The  seal  of  ]\Iartin  Luther 
represented  a  rose;  and  in  the  rose  a  heart;  and 
in  the  heart  a  cross ;  symbolizing  this — that  a 
fragrant  and  beautiful  life,  the  rose,  is  born  of 
love,  the  heart,  spending  itself  in  sacrifice,  the 
cross.  Whitefield's  seal  had  as  a  device  a  winged 
heart  soaring  above  the  clouds.  And  the  men 
of  truly  heroic  mold,  the  men  of  great  achieve- 
ment, the  men  that  have  lifted  multitudes  of 
their  fellows  to  higher  altitudes  of  joy  and 
sweet  peace,  that  have  sprung  to  the  leadership 
of  imperiled  causes,  and  carried  them  for  God 
and  truth,  have  always  been  men  of  the  winged 
heart. 

For  a  man  is  not  all  a  man  till  some  great  love 
possesses  him.  Love  lifts  weary  feet  and  makes 
them    hinds'    feet.      Love    nerves    endeavor   and 


54  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

puts  steel  into  it.  Love  thrills  the  whole  being 
through,  and  brings  out  all  its  unguessed  possi- 
bilities of  power.  Love  performs  deeds  and  con- 
quers where  even  duty  fails.  Order,  law,  right, 
duty — love  is  all  these  and  more — for  God  is  love. 
When  the  glory  of  God  appeared  in  the  face 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  men  saw  that  transcendent 
marvel  of  manhood,  the  Son  of  man,  what  did 
they  say  of  Him  ?  No  evangelist  or  apostle 
speaks  of  His  intellect  or  even  of  His  conscience. 
Think  of  this  strange  thing, — four  writers,  writing 
the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  making  that  life 
concededly  the  truest  and  manliest  ever  lived  out 
before  men,  and  all  absolutely  silent  as  to  His 
intellectual  powers!  He  had  these,  but  they  go 
unmentioned  in  the  presence  of  the  glory  of  His 
heart.  It  was  this  that  taught  His  lips  and  gave 
them  their  wonderful  rhetoric.  In  His  infinite 
tenderness  were  the  very  hidings  of  His  power. 
The  winning,  persuasive,  love-commanding,  and 
inspirational  elements  of  His  personality  all  drop 
out  of  His  speech  and  life  when  we  drop  His 
heart  out.  He  had  wisdom,  indeed,  the  highest 
wisdom.  In  Him  were  hid  all  the  treasures  of 
wisdom  and  knowledge.  Yet  in  Him  wisdom 
never  overtopped  love;  or  rather,  love  was  His 
chief  wisdom.     His  heart  taught  His  mouth  and 


THE  WORD  AS  A  CHARACTER-BUILDER     55 

gave  His  word  such  power,  and  His  manhood 
such  mingled  majesty  and  grace. 

Clearly,  the  heart  is  the  man.  This  does  not 
belittle  thought  nor  abate  by  the  faintest  shadow 
those  splendors  with  which  the  head  is  crowned. 
But  the  chief  assault  of  the  gospel  is  on  our 
hearts.  Love  is  its  commanding  commandment. 
It  brings  a  great  love's  inspiration,  wakens  a 
responsive  love,  and  incites  to  love's  holiest  and 
divinest  deeds. 

And  yet — and  yet,  it  must  be  admitted — there 
is  altogether  too  little  downright  heartiness  in  the 
mass  of  the  Christian  young  men  and  women  of 
our  times.  Why  ?  Is  it  because  they  handle  the 
Bible  too  much  with  their  heads  ?  By  no  means  ; 
but  exactly  the  contrary.  It  is  because  they  give 
it  so  little  thought.  The  word  of  God  would  put 
heartiness  into  their  character  if  they  would  let 
it  abide  more  in  their  minds.  "  Ye  are  strong," 
writes  the  apostle  to  young  men,  "  because  the 
word  of  God  abideth  in  you."  Thought  begets 
interest — "  out  of  mind,  out  of  heart."  It  is  true, 
interest  leads  to  thought.  But  the  reverse  is  also 
and  more  widely  true — thought  leads  to  interest. 
Set  a  man  to  thinking  deeply  and  he  will  feel 
deeply.  It  is  said  that  Dante,  while  writing  his 
"  Inferno,"  looked  as  if  he  had  been  in  hell.     It 


56  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

was  thought  on  the  condition  of  the  Holy  Places 
in  the  East  that  stirred  all  Europe  with  crusadic 
ardor.  It  was  thought  on  a  single  truth  of 
God's  word  that  made  Martin  Luther  the  flaming 
apostle  of  the  Reformation.  It  was  meditation 
on  a  few  great  Scriptural  ideas  that  gave  such 
fervor  to  early  Methodism.  It  was  pondering  the 
condition  of  the  heathen  in  the  light  of  the  Bible 
that  sent  those  young  men  at  Williamstown  from 
the  shadow  of  the  haystack  into  the  shadow  of 
paganism  with  their  hearts  all  aflame. 

This  is  the  very  philosophy  of  God  in  the 
gospel.  "How  love  I  Thy  law!"  sang  the  Psalm- 
ist ;  "  it  is  my  meditation  all  the  day."  His  love 
undoubtedly  led  to  renewed  meditation.  But  his 
daily  meditation  stirred  new  depths  of  love,  and 
gave  to  David  that  heartiness  which  breaks  out 
everywhere  in  his  song,  and  which  has  made  him 
the  leader  of  God's  singing  hosts  ever  since. 

You  may  be  sure  of  it,  young  men,  young 
women,  the  Bible  used  will  put  heartiness  into 
your  being  and  life.  Make  room  for  it.  Give  it 
a  chance.  Let  it  abide  in  you.  And  its  varied, 
profound,  transcendent,  and  every  way  marvelous 
themes,  with  their  divine  tenderness  and  eternal 
sanctions,  will  fill  and  fire  your  hearts  with  some 
deathless  affections. 


THE  WORD  AS  A  CHARACTER-BUILDER     57 

II.  Fixedness. — This  is  another  quality  that 
enters  into  a  robust  character,  and  the  word  of 
God  is  pecuHarly  fitted  to  give  it.  It  is  the  stay- 
ing quahty  in  character. 

A  merely  emotional  make-up  is  not  stable. 
Feehngs  are  as  the  waves  of  the  sea.  Love  is 
simply  a  spasm  of  enthusiasm  until  it  is  intelli- 
gent, discriminating  love,  based  in  knowledge. 
The  weakness  and  unreliability  of  so  much  of 
the  piety  of  to-day  is  owing  to  ignorance.  Far 
too  many  Christians  are  content  with  pleased 
sensibilities,  emotional  frames,  and  gushes  of 
feeling.  Their  religion  consists  in  "  feeling  good," 
rather  than  in  righteous  living  springing  out  of 
profound  conviction.  "  Melting  moods "  are  to 
them  like  Paul's  "  third  heaven."  Ecstacies  are 
Christian  evidences,  and  tears  are  Christian  testi- 
monies. The  aesthetics  and  art  and  pathos  of 
worship  move  them  more  than  any  truth  of  God 
in  worship. 

Now  pathos  is  good,  and  there  is  an  infinite 
pathos  in  Christianity.  But  it  is  the  flush  and 
aroma,  the  flower  and  finish,  of  religion,  not  its 
trunk  and  root.  Just  as  the  vegetable  kingdom 
is  buttressed  up  by  the  vast  ribs  of  the  mineral 
kingdom,  so  is  character  made  to  have  rooted- 
ness  and  stay,  as  it  is  ribbed  round  about  and 


58  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

penetrated  through  and  through  with  Bible 
truths.  Weakness  and  want  of  knowledge  go 
together,  the  world  over.  Spiritual  ignorance  is 
spiritual  babyhood.  You  will  find  this  illustrated 
in  society  to-day.  It  is  quite  the  fad  in  a  certain 
set.  They  go  about  issuing  little  declarations  of 
independence,  and  they  call  them  doubts.  But 
doubt  is  not  a  declaration  of  independence.  Doubt 
is  looseness.  Doubt  is  weakness.  Doubt  is 
unmanliness.  It  takes  the  best  fiber  out  of  char- 
acter. It  leaves  one  to  be  tossed  to  and  fro  and 
carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine. 
Anchorage  is  gone  where  conviction  of  truth  is 
gone.  If  not  one  clear,  distinct,  imperishable 
truth  of  God  has  ever  had  a  real  abiding-place  in 
one's  soul,  is  it  any  wonder  he  lacks  fixedness  ? 

Go  to  the  word  of  God,  then,  if  you  would 
have  rootedness.  Determine  that  you  will  not 
rest  until  you  have  grasped  definitely  some  of  its 
great  truths.  If  you  want  staying  quality  in  your 
character,  get  some  things  settled,  clearly  defined, 
things  that  you  know.  A  nebulous  belief  has  no 
heroism  in  it.  A  brave,  bold  faith  is  a  definite 
faith.  Look  steadily  into  the  word  of  God,  grow 
familiar  with  it,  bring  it  out  of  the  shadows,  know 
just  what  you  believe  and  why. 

Such  knowledge,  born  of  conviction,  gives  us 


THE  WORD  AS  A  CHARACTER-BUILDER     59 

character  of  the  fiery-furnace  sort,  like  Luther 
summoned  to  Worms,  and  ready  to  go,  though 
the  tiles  on  the  roofs  of  the  houses  were  changed 
into  battalions  of  opposing  and  malignant  devils. 
Like  Latimer  at  the  stake,  saying  to  Master 
Ridley:  "Be  of  good  courage,  Master  Ridley;  we 
shall  this  day  kindle  a  fire  that  will  light  all  Eng- 
land !"  Like  Bunyan  in  Bedford  jail,  who  will 
stay  there  "till  the  moss  grow  on  his  eyelids" 
before  he  will  recant !  Like  any  loyal  disciple 
who  lives  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  and 
who  will  stand  fast  in  that  faith  anywhere,  at  any 
cost ! 

Surely  the  times  need  such  men,  and  such 
women  too — men  and  women  of  fixedness,  un- 
breakable, untemptable,  unmoved  by  the  great- 
ness of  this  visible  world,  and  unbribed  by  its 
social  pomp  and  glitter  and  glory,  believing  in 
eternity  and  in  some  distinct  truths  that  reach  out 
there,  and  able  to  point  to  some  parts  and  aims 
of  their  lives  in  very  proof  of  their  belief  in 
eternity. 

III.  Aggressiveness  is  a  third  element  that  the 
indwelling  word  of  God  gives  to  character.  Fix- 
edness is  a  grand  quality,  but  for  moral  conflict 
we  need  something  more  than  to  "  hold  the  fort." 
Holding   the   fort   simply   holds    the    fort.     But 


6o  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

battle  with  wrong  means  push,  stir,  jostle,  attack, 
charge,  conflict,  victory. 

Now  nothing  puts  aggressiveness  into  character 
like  the  word  of  God.  It  bristles  all  over  with 
appeals  to  a  stirring,  challenging  activity,  that 
shall  threaten  every  stronghold  of  iniquity  and 
every  refuge  of  lies.  Its  commands  are.  Go  ye, 
Go  ye  ;  Go  forth ;  Go  labor,  strive,  fight.  Life  is 
a  race,  a  wrestling,  a  battle.  The  opposing  com- 
batants are  not  only  flesh  and  blood,  but  princi- 
palities, powers,  rulers  of  darkness,  spirits  of 
wickedness  in  high  places,  the  Prince  of  the  power 
of  the  air.  If  you  think  there  is  no  personal  Devil, 
I  do  not  see  that  it  much  matters.  I  once  heard 
a  paper  read  at  the  Literary  Club  on  "  The  Rise 
and  Fall  of  the  Devil."  And  the  writer  was  sure 
he  had  summarily  disposed  of  his  Satanic  majesty. 
And  I  was  glad  to  congratulate  him  on  his  lack 
of  familiarity  with  his  subject.  But  what  boots  it, 
I  thought,  that  we  get  rid  of  the  Devil,  if  the 
devilish  remain.  And  the  devilish  is  here — the 
infamous,  hellish,  devilish.  Who  will  deny  that 
the  possibilities  of  it  are  right  here  in  any  fair 
garden  of  God  ?  If  you  Christians,  who  are  con- 
tent to  be  lapped  in  the  folds  of  a  silken  and  easy 
life — if  you  think  there  is  no  fight — go  on  with 
the    dance.     You'll   find   out  by  and  by,  in  the 


THE  WORD  AS  A  CHARACTER-BUILDER     6i 

evolution    and    devolution    of    society,   that   life 
means  something  more  than  a  lullaby. 

Now  the  word  of  God  is  the  only  weapon  of 
attack  in  all  the  armor  of  the  Christian  soldier. 
There  is  other  armor,  but  it  is  defensive — a  shield, 
a  helmet,  a  breastplate.  We  can't  fight  down 
foes  with  these.  But  the  word !  The  word ! 
When  we  once  get  in  possession  of  it,  become 
familiar  with  it,  know  the  stuff  it  is  made  of,  and 
grasp  it  for  use,  it  takes  an  "  S  "  as  a  prefix,  and 
the  word  is  a  S-word — a  szvord.  And  this  is  the 
kind  of  sword — living,  powerful,  sharper  than  any 
two-edged  one,  piercing  to  the  dividing  asunder 
of  soul  and  spirit,  and  discerning  the  very 
thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart. 

Who  would  not  be  stirred  to  do  some  good 
battling  if  once  persuaded  in  his  heart  of  hearts 
that  his  hand  could  grasp  always  the  hilt  of  such 
a  weapon !  Who  can  grasp  the  profound  and 
everlasting  realities  of  the  word  of  God,  appre- 
ciate at  all  the  reach  and  significance  of  its  tre- 
mendous alternatives  and  eternal  sanctions,  and 
not  get  built  up  in  this  quality  of  aggressiveness, 
and  feel  a  "  woe  is  me  "  to  be  still  and  dumb  amid 
these  sounding  retributions  and  mighty  inspira- 
tions of  God ! 

Look  at  the  early  Christians,     They  meditated 


62  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

on  these  things — the  word  of  God  got  in  their 
hearts — and  against  the  three  vast  establishments 
of  Judaism,  Idolatry,  and  Imperial  Rome,  they 
hurled  themselves,  and  brought  them  to  naught. 

Look  at  the  missionaries,  men  and  women  both, 
that  are  pushing  their  way  to-day  to  the  heart  of 
Pagan  continents,  inspired  and  armed  only  by  this 
word  of  God ! 

Look  at  Moody,  the  very  incarnation  of  aggres- 
siveness, who  crossed  seas  and  continents,  and 
flung  himself  against  the  worst  classes  and  forces 
in  our  great  crime  centers,  with  that  well-worn 
Bible  under  his  arm,  which  he  had  studied  and 
pondered  and  prayed  over  until  its  truths  were 
inwrought  in  every  fiber  of  his  soul,  and  his 
Christian  manliness  was  of  the  sort  that  the 
roughest  criminal  of  the  street  would  recognize. 
It  laid  no  claim  to  scholary  and  aesthetic  culture, 
but  there  was  no  weakness  about  it.  And  every- 
body knows  that  aggressiveness  is  a  most  vital 
thing  in  a  good  cause.  Nothing  puts  it  into  life 
and  character  like  the  Bible. 

IV.  The  Courage  of  Repose. — This  is  another 
constituent  of  worthy  character.  We  commonly 
associate  courage  with  action.  But  it  is  a  ques- 
tion whether  the  top  of  human  courage  is  not 
found  in  self-restraint  rather  than  in  self-abandon 


THE  WORD  AS  A  CHARACTER-BUILDER     63 

— in  repose  rather  than  in  action.  It  would  not 
be  strange  if  hearts  that  naturally  feared  and 
trembled  should  grow  brave  in  the  rush  of  a 
grand  charge,  and  the  roar  of  an  impetuous  onset, 
when  whole  regiments  were  breast  to  breast,  and 
the  fire  of  a  loyal  enthusiasm  swept  down  the 
lines.  Even  a  coward  might  be  brave  there.  But 
it  tests  all  there  is  in  a  man  to  creep  slowly  and 
singly  in  the  skirmish  line  toward  a  hidden 
enemy,  out  of  whose  ambush  at  any  instant  and 
with  unerring  aim  may  be  hurled  the  deadly  rifle 
ball. 

Tennyson  has  immortalized  the  "  Charge  of  the 
Light  Brigade  " — 

"  Cannon  to  right  of  them. 
Cannon  to  left  of  them, 

Volleyed  and  thundered. 
Into  the  jaws  of  death. 
Into  the  mouth  of  hell, 

Rode  the  six  hundred." 

There  it  is ;  the  courage  of  action ;  the  blood  astir, 
the  eyes  aflame,  the  thrill  of  comradeship,  the 
whirl  and  rush  and  roar  of  onset.  Magnificent 
courage ! 

But  what   of  the   courage  aboard  the    Merri- 
mac;  the  men  going  without  a  word  of  cheer, 


64  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

quietly,  silently  into  a  seemingly  inevitable  doom 
of  death  ?  And  there  they  lay  on  the  deck,  as 
the  ship  passed  steadily  into  that  storm  of  shot 
and  shell,  hidden  mines  beneath  them,  hissing 
shells  raining  on  every  side  of  them,  a  very  hell 
of  fire  and  wrath — there  they  lay  without  action 
or  word ;  not  a  man  moved,  looking  death  in  the 
face,  waiting  their  doom,  obedient  to  the  order  of 
their  chief  The  courage  of  repose.  Is  not  this, 
too,  magnificent  ? 

Hear  Christ,  when  only  twelve  years  of  age,  in 
that  strange  scene  in  the  temple  saying  to  His 
mother  when  she  sought  Him  sorrowing,  "  Know 
ye  not  that  I  must  be  in  My  Father's  house  ?" 
It  was  the  first  flashing  out  of  the  Godhead  in 
Him  and  betokened  the  consciousness  of  His 
divine  mission.  Yet  back  He  went  to  His  father's 
carpenter  bench  and  waited  in  silence  eighteen 
years  ere  He  declared  Himself  And  when  in  the 
wilderness,  tempted  of  the  Devil,  it  was  still  the 
high  courage  of  inaction  He  showed.  "  If  thou 
be  the  Son  of  God,"  said  the  tempter,  "  make 
these  stones  bread,  and  end  your  hunger."  "  No, 
it  is  not  the  time  and  the  way  to  show  My  Mes- 
siahship.     I  must  wait." 

To  stand  and  wait ;  to  bide  the  time ;  to  be 
still  in   God's  hand;  to  be  silent  and  patient  in 


THE  WORD  AS  A  CHARACTER-BUILDER     65 

the  silence ;  without  a  murmur  to  arrest  activities 
that  would  leap  to  service — this  is  the  top  and 
crown  of  courage,  the  courage  of  repose.  There 
is  no  stimulus  to  action  in  it.  It  is  obedience, 
and  even  unto  death,  without  one  circumstance 
of  inspiration  or  one  thrill  of  used  and  blessed 
endeavor. 

The  word  of  God,  as  nothing  else,  puts  this 
power  of  repose  in  character.  Do  you  ask  me 
how  ?  By  dwarfing  the  present  and  magnifying 
evermore  the  eternal  future ;  by  belittling  the 
instrument  and  exalting  God;  by  giving  us  the 
true  estimate  of  things.  For  it  leads  us  to  see 
that  nothing  can  be  best,  nothing  can  be  of 
service,  nothing  can  be  wise  and  right  and 
useful  to  us,  which  is  not  in  God's  time  and 
by  God's  will.  We  come  to  realize  more  and 
more  that  God  is  never  in  a  hurry;  that  He 
has  a  great  while  to  do  things  in ;  that 
meanwhile,  whoever  stands  and  waits,  God's 
eternal  thought  moves  on.  And  so  we  learn  that 
"truth  is  a  part  of  the  celestial  machinery  of 
God ;  that  whoso  puts  that  in  gear  for  mankind 
has  the  Almighty  to  turn  his  wheel  " ;  and  that 
when  God  turns  the  mill  men  may  stop,  but  the 
mill  will  not.  So,  steadily,  little  by  little,  as  the 
Bible  is  studied  and  pondered  and  made  famihar, 
S 


66  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

this  quality  of  character,  the  courage  of  repose, 
gets  fixed  and  rooted  in  the  soul. 

V.  TJie  Power  of  Reserve. — This  is  still  another 
element  of  the  noblest  character.  It  is  the  quality 
of  unused  force — that  power  of  character  which 
comes  from  having  the  consciousness  and  giving 
the  impression  of  being  able  to  do  more.  You 
know  action  sometimes  seems  to  exhaust  itself, 
as  if  the  utmost  possibility  of  power  were  put 
forth  and  the  end  of  the  tether  reached.  There 
is  weakness  in  that  sign.  The  manhood  has  been 
put  to  all  the  tension  it  will  bear. 

Action  is  of  an  altogether  different  sort  when 
it  seems  to  tell,  in  every  form  and  expression  of 
it,  "  The  man  could  do  far  more  if  he  wanted  to 
— if  he  thought  there  were  need."  We  all  know 
what  power  there  is  in  the  ability  thus  to  impress 
men.  It  is  the  power  of  reserve  in  character.  It 
is  the  calm  consciousness  of  having  that  at  com- 
mand which  will  make  one  equal  to  any  occasion. 
It  impresses  others  with  the  conviction  of  unused 
force.  And  the  effect  of  this  conviction  on  men's 
imaginations  has  been  prodigious.  It  has  made 
mobs  cower.  It  has  enabled  one  man  to  quell  a 
tumult,  and  to  harness  to  his  will  the  passions  of 
men  wilder  than  wild  beasts. 

Jesus   is   again   the  preeminent  example.     He 


THE  WORD  AS  A  CHARACTER-BUILDER     (i-j 

knew  all  power  was  given  to  Him.  He  knew  He 
could  summon  legions  of  angels  to  His  aid.  He 
knew  He  could  make  stones  bread.  Yet  He 
often  answered  not  a  word.  And  His  very  silence 
awed  men.  "  If  Thou  be  Christ,  save  Thyself," 
the  scoffers  shouted  beneath  the  cross.  He  was 
dumb  amidst  that  babel  of  hell.  Yet  somehow 
men  went  home  from  the  crucifixion  smiting  their 
breasts — smiting  their  breasts. 

Now,  just  as  the  word  of  God  abides  in  you, 
my  friend,  as  its  truths  cease  to  be  mere  notions, 
and  become  positive  and  profound  beliefs,  will 
this  power  of  reserve  get  built  up  in  you.  Take 
some  of  the  great  Scriptural  truths — that  all 
things  are  possible  to  faith ;  that  the  world,  life, 
death,  things  present,  things  to  come,  are  the 
property  of  the  believer,  and  made  to  work  to- 
gether for  good  to  them  that  love  God;  that 
invisible  troops  of  God  cover  the  mountains,  and 
may  be  marshaled  any  hour  or  instant  to  shield 
God's  own  elect;  that  there  is  no  possibility  of 
achievement  beyond  which  there  is  not  possibility 
of  infinitely  greater  achievement.  Let  a  believing 
soul  get  hold  of  these  truths,  grasp  them,  trans- 
mute them  into  living  convictions,  and  what  an 
exhaustless  battery  of  spiritual  dynamics  gets 
stored  away  as  reserved  force,  and  what  possible 


68  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

limit  can  be  put  to  its  unused  yet  usable  power ! 
In  the  supreme  moments,  in  the  crisis  hours,  such 
a  soul  is  able  to  say  without  the  least  hyperbole, 
"  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ." 

VI.  Self-sacrifice. — This  is  the  crowning  glory 
of  character.  It  enters  into  the  innermost  life  of 
all  real  greatness.  No  manhood  or  womanhood 
is  complete  without  it.  The  spirit  that  is  not 
ready  for  a  voluntary  vicarious  sacrifice  can  never 
go  to  the  greater  heights.     Old  Ben  Jonson  said : 

"  Fear  to  do  base  unworthy  things,  is  valor. 
If  they  be  done  to  us,  to  suffer  them 
Is  valor  too." 

Put  Christ  into  that  terse  apothegm,  and  you 
have  heaven's  topmost  sign  and  proof  of  high  and 
fine  character.  Christ  pleased  not  Himself  He 
gave  His  life  for  others.  He  was  rich  with  the 
riches  of  God,  and  He  became  poor  that  we 
might  be  rich.  "  O  Jerusalem !  Jerusalem  !"  was 
the  sob  of  his  broken  heart,  as  He  wept  over  the 
city  that  cast  Him  out.  "  Father,  forgive  them  " 
was  the  prayer  that  died  upon  His  lips  as  He 
gave  up  the  Ghost. 

Through  and  through  the  word  of  God  is  this 
shining  example.  The  Bible  lifts  up  the  cross  as 
the  symbol  of  God's  best — love  in  sacrifice.    And 


THE  WORD  AS  A  CHARACTER-BUILDER     69 

the  young  disciple  takes  his  Bible  and  reads,  and 
looks  up  into  the  face  of  the  Crucified,  and  reads 
again,  and  again  he  looks  on  the  mystery  of  that 
scene,  and  somehow,  as  he  looks  and  reads,  more 
and  more  he  gets  molded  into  the  image  of  that 
divine  passion — bathed  in  the  spirit  and  power  of 
that  sacrifice.  And  behold !  The  miracle  of 
Christianity !  Perfect  manhood  or  womanhood 
in  Christ  Jesus ! 

Here,  then,  are  the  elements  of  the  finest  char- 
acter :  heartiness,  fixedness,  aggressiveness,  the 
courage  of  repose,  the  power  of  reserve,  and  self- 
sacrifice.  The  character  of  such  fiber,  you  will 
all  admit,  is  no  mean  thing.  It  will  do  to  be  tried 
in  the  fire  and  it  will  come  out  gold.  It  will  do 
to  be  weighed  and,  in  any  true  balances,  it  will 
make  wealth  and  wit  and  family  descent  kick  the 
beam. 

Oh,  young  hearts  !  it  is  a  great  thing  to  be  called 
to  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this.  The 
hour  is  big  with  opportunity.  Do  you  mean  to 
enter  into  the  age-long  struggle  to  right  things  ? 
Are  you  determined  to  get  more  wrong  on  the 
scaffold  and  more  truth  on  the  throne  ?  You'll 
want  the  best  fiber  of  character  to  make  a  good 
fight.  The  Bible  will  give  it  to  you.  Old  Izaak 
Walton  looked  into  it  and  said : — 


70  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

"  Every  hour 
I  read  you  kills  a  sin, 
Or  lets  a  virtue  in 
To  fight  against  it." 

It  built  Gladstone — taken  all  in  all,  the  fore- 
most man  of  the  last  century.  It  built  Florence 
Nightingale,  that  queen  of  charities ;  and  Frances 
Willard,  who  kept  her  gentle  womanhood  in  the 
midst  of  high  debates  and  in  the  full  glare  of  long 
and  wide  publicity.  It  built  England's  late  queen, 
who  gave  to  the  British  Isles  their  peerless  reign. 
And  it  built  Lincoln,  the  unique  personality  in 
American  history. 

Whatever  of  conscience  incarnate  there  is 
among  men  to-day  is  due  to  this  Book.  Our 
naval  heroes  got  anchorage  in  the  word  of  God 
before  they  anchored  at  Manila  and  Santiago. 
The  best  modern  scientific  research  turns  to  this 
Book  and  reads  to-day  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis, 
written  thousands  of  years  ago,  and  says,  in  the 
light  of  the  most  recent  investigation,  "Well  done, 
thou  good  and  faithful  servant."  Lower  criticism 
looks  into  this  old  Book,  and  while  discovering 
many  errors,  avows  it  to  be  the  most  marvelous 
and  unmatched  preservation  of  textual  purity; 
the  errors  touching  nothing  fundamental  to  faith. 
Higher  criticism — that  modern  nineteenth  century 


THE  WORD  AS  A  CHARACTER-BUILDER     71 

blowpipe — directs  its  hot  blast  to  this  bit  of 
sacred  literature,  and  blowing  upon  it  with  its 
fierce  breath,  detects  and  consumes  some  gloss 
and  dross,  but  leaves  it  still  in  its  unique  and 
peculiar  glory  as  the  word  of  God. 

Heartiness,  fixedness,  aggressiveness,  the  cour- 
age of  repose,  the  power  of  reserve,  and  self- 
sacrifice  :  these  are  the  elements  of  character  it  is 
fitted,  as  no  other  book  or  influence  or  man  is 
fitted,  to  build  into  character.  My  friend,  you 
cannot  have  these  qualities  in  anything  like  full- 
ness, you  cannot  have  them  for  inspiration,  and 
stay,  and  conflict,  and  obedience,  and  witness,  and 
victory  in  this  life — nor  can  you  have  them  as  an 
heirloom  for  eternity — unless  you  have  the  word 
of  God  abiding  in  you, 

"  The  forces  of  the  dark  dissolve ; 
The  doorway  of  the  dark  is  broken ; 
The  word  that  casts  out  night  is  spoken." 

That  word  is  in  this  Book — and  it  abideth  for 
ever. 


IV 

THE   LABOR   QUESTION 
IN   THE   KINGDOM   OF   GOD 


IV 

THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOM 
OF  GOD 

The  Parable  of  the  Laborers. — Matt.  xx.  i-i6. 
"  To  every  man  a  penny." 

The  Parable  of  the  Talents. — Matt.  xxv.  14-30. 
"Faithful  over  a  few  things.     Set  over  many  things." 

The  Parable  of  the  Pounds. — Luke  xix.  1 1-27. 
"  Ten  pounds  " — "  ten  cities." 
"  Five  pounds  " — "  five  cities." 

One  of  the  great  questions  of  the  hour,  in  the 
world,  is  the  labor  question ;  and  one  of  the  great 
questions  of  the  hour,  in  the  church,  is  the  labor 
question. 

In  the  world,  vast  combinations  of  capital  are 
being  followed  by  vast  combinations  of  labor. 
Trusts  were  never  so  far  reaching  and  comprehen- 
sive. The  sons  of  toil  were  never  so  numerous 
and  so  united.  The  attitude  of  each  to  the  other 
should  be  friendly ;  for  their  interests  blend.  In 
the  long  run  it  is  always  found  that  putting  one 
end  of  the  chain  round  the  neck  of  toil  puts  the 

75 


76  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

other  end  of  the  chain  round  the  neck  of  him 
who  enslaves  toil.  Employers  and  employed  have 
mutual  interests.  Let  us  pray  God  that  the  way 
to  a  happy  adjustment  of  these  interests  may 
speedily  be  found.  Arbitration  and  the  golden 
rule  are  on  the  road  to  world-wide  triumph. 

But  what  of  the  labor  question  when  con- 
nected with  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  No  one  can 
read  the  New  Testament  without  being  struck 
with  the  emphasis  it  everywhere  puts  upon  grace 
and  faith.  Yet  the  gospel  is  nothing  in  all  its 
splendid  speech  if  not  a  gospel  of  works.  Listen  ! 
"  Faith  without  works  is  a  dead  faith."  How  this 
strong  word  puts  faith  and  works  in  close  and  vital 
alliance  !  Listen  again  !  "  We  are  laborers  together 
with  God."  This  is  the  divine  partnership  Chris- 
tian work  gets  us  into.  And  again,  "  Work  out 
your  own  salvation,  ...  for  it  is  God  who  work- 
eth  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work."  This  makes 
it  sure  our  work  shall  not  be  in  vain.  And  still 
again,  "  We  are  His  workmanship,  created  in 
Christ  Jesus  for  good  works,  which  God  afore 
prepared  that  we  should  walk  in  them."  This 
marks  the  double  eternal  purpose  of  God — viz., 
Christians  fashioned  in  Christ  for  good  works,  and 
good  works  ordained  beforehand  for  their  doing. 

Consider  also  how  Christ  puts  in  the  bosom  of 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOM     -]! 

His  most  gracious  invitation  and  promise  this 
thought  of  labor,  "  Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest."  How  will  He  give  rest  ?  "  Take  My  yoke 
upon  you,  .  .  .  and  ye  shall  find  rest."  A  yoke  is 
the  sign  and  symbol  of  toil.  It  means  obedience, 
subjection,  service.  Hear  another  word  of  the 
Master,  "  If  any  man  would  come  after  Me,  let 
him  .  .  .  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  Me," 
Christ  is  not  playing  with  speech.  Cross-bearing 
means  burden-bearing.  In  other  words,  the  true 
road  to  rest  and  peace  is  through  service. 

Clearly,  the  labor  question  is  a  transcendent 
question  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  We  cannot 
escape  it.  We  ought  to  understand  it.  When 
God  calls  a  man  mto  His  kingdom  He  says,  "  Go 
work.  Go  work  to-day  in  My  vineyard.  Work 
while  the  day  lasts.  Work  for  the  night  cometh." 
But  this  labor  problem  bristles  with  interrogation 
points.  What  of  grace,  if  works  are  due  ?  How 
can  salvation  be  a  gift,  and  yet  we  be  asked  to 
work  it  out  ?  Are  we  to  serve  God  without 
thought  or  care  of  reward  ?  Or  does  God  pay 
wages,  and  urge  us  to  toil  by  the  promise  of 
them  ?  Are  the  wages  alike  to  each  ?  Or  do  the 
wages  differ  and  make  an  eternal  difference  in  the 
eternal  inheritance  ? 


78  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

Let  us  consult  God's  word  and  see  if  we  can 
find  it  giving  answer  to  these  questions. 

There  are  three  labor  parables  spoken  by  Christ 
and  recorded  in  Scripture  that  are  distinctly  fitted 
and  unchallangeably  designed  to  throw  light  on 
this  question. 

Before  we  consider  them  let  us  try  to  have 
in  mind  what  a  parable  is,  and  how  it  is  to  be 
interpreted. 

What  is  a  parable  ?  A  story,  at  the  heart  of 
which  is  a  great  truth.  It  is  truth  in  scenic  form 
— in  fiction.  It  is  a  verbal  picture,  embosoming, 
embodying,  illustrating  a  great  thought  of  God, 
or  a  process  of  redemption,  or  a  lesson  of  duty. 
Its  purpose  is  commonly  determined  by  its  con- 
text. The  point  of  view  of  anything  goes  far  to 
determine  views.  This  is  as  true  of  a  parable  as 
of  a  bit  of  landscape  or  a  work  of  architecture. 
If  we  get  Christ's  point  of  view  we  are  already  at 
the  heart  of  the  story  He  is  telling ;  we  know  the 
purpose  of  His  telling  it,  and  we  know  what  is 
mere  dress  or  drapery  and  what  is  vital  as  em- 
bodying central  and  essential  truth.  For  exam- 
ple, it  is  said  He  spake  a  parable  unto  them, 
"  That  men  ought  always  to  pray,  and  not  to 
faint."  And  then  follows  the  story  of  the  unjust 
judge  and  the  importunate  widow.     Now  we  do 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOM     79 

not  know  who  the  unjust  judge  is,  or  who  the 
pleading  widow  is,  or  what  her  personal  griev- 
ance. We  don't  need  to  know.  What  we  do 
know  is  that  this  story  was  told  to  encourage  us 
to  persistence  in  prayer.  If  an  unjust  judge, 
from  even  a  selfish  motive,  will  hear  a  poor  un- 
known widow  persisting  in  her  plea  to  be  avenged 
for  a  mere  personal  grievance,  shall  not  God,  the 
just  Judge,  avenge  His  own  chosen  and  beloved 
child  that  cries  day  and  night  unto  Him,  and  for 
something  concernmg  His  own  kingdom  ?  The 
question  answers  itself. 

Take  another  example :  "  This  man  receiveth 
sinners,  and  eateth  with  them,"  sneered  the  Phari- 
sees. Certainly.  And  Christ's  answer  to  the  sneer 
is  the  matchless  allegories  of  the  lost  sheep  and 
the  lost  coin  and  the  lost  son.  Now  whatever  in 
these  parables  reveals  the  sinner  far  from  God, 
and  God's  heart  of  seeking,  searching,  and  wel- 
coming love  for  the  sinner — that  is  the  soul  of 
the  parables — that  is  the  purpose  of  their  telling. 
And  all  the  other  details  are  mere  accessories, 
setting,  verbal  dress,  simply  to  heighten  the  con- 
trast, and  of  no  spiritual  significance  whatever. 

Another  thing  about  a  parable.  It  has  one 
specific,  definite  purpose,  always.  It  presses  one 
distinct  phase  of  truth,  not  a  dozen  phases.     It 


8o  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

treats  one  specific  side  of  a  given  truth,  not  all 
sides.  In  illustration,  take  the  parable  of  "  The 
Pharisee  and  the  Publican."  It  does  not  attempt 
to  teach  everything  about  prayer.  It  brings  out 
the  beauty  and  glory  and  divine  estimate  of 
humility  in  prayer,  but  nothing  else;  just  as  its 
companion  parable  of  "  The  Unjust  Judge  "  brings 
out  the  power  and  victory  of  persistence,  or  im- 
portunity in  prayer,  but  nothing  else. 

Again,  in  illustration,  take  the  parable  of  "  The 
Lost  Sheep."  It  shows  us  a  seeking,  yearning, 
compassionate  shepherd,  out  on  the  mountains  or 
out  in  the  desert,  seeking  until  he  finds  that  lost 
sheep,  and  then  putting  it  on  his  shoulder  and 
carrying  it  all  the  way  home.  We  all  know  that 
this  touching  allegory  was  meant  to  tell  us  how 
a  lost  sinner  is  saved.  But  it  is  only  Christ's  side 
of  the  saving  that  it  tells  us.  Must  not  a  sinner 
do  something  in  getting  back  to  God  ?  Oh,  yes  ! 
But  in  this  parable  not  a  word  is  said  of  the  sin- 
ner's agency.  His  side  of  the  saving  comes  out 
in  the  parable  of  "The  Prodigal  Son."  There  the 
lost  son,  of  his  own  will,  is  off  in  a  far  country, 
feeding  on  husks,  and  while  perishing  with  hun- 
ger, he  thinks  of  home,  resolves  to  go  back,  and 
goes  back,  to  find  a  welcome  when  he  gets  in 
sight  of  his  father's   house.     This  parable,  also, 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOM     8i 

was  meant  to  tell  us  how  a  lost  sinner  is  saved ; 
but  it  is  only  the  sinner's  side  of  the  saving  that 
it  tells  us.  The  sinner  comes  to  himself,  is  con- 
scious of  his  need,  resolves  to  go  to  his  father  and 
to  confess  his  sins,  and  arises  and  goes  and  con- 
fesses, as  if  God  had  nothing  to  do  with  his 
coming  home.  You  must  read  the  two  parables 
together,  the  lost  sheep  and  the  lost  son,  to  get 
the  full  truth,  both  the  divine  and  the  human  side, 
of  how  a  lost  sinner  is  saved.  Either,  alone,  is 
only  half  the  truth. 

With  this  light  on  our  path,  let  us  now  go  to 
the  labor  parables  to  see  what  they  teach.  At  the 
outset  we  are  sure  no  one  of  them  will  tell  us  all 
the  truth  about  labor  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 
This  is  manifestly  not  Christ's  way,  as  we  have 
already  seen.  We  shall  probably  need  the  three 
to  give  us  the  whole  truth.  The  first  is  "  The 
Parable  of  the  Laborers."  And  in  substance  it  is 
as  follows :  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a 
man  who  went  out  early  in  the  morning  to  hire 
laborers  for  his  vineyard.  And  he  hired  some 
and  set  them  to  work  for  a  penny  a  day.  And 
about  the  third  hour  he  went  out  again  and  found 
others  idle,  and  said  to  them,  "  Go  to  work,  and 
whatever  is  right  I  will  pay  you."  And  about 
the  sixth  and  the  ninth  hour  he  did  the  same. 

6 


82  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

And  even  about  the  eleventh  hour  he  went  out 
and  found  men  waiting  for  work,  and  he  sent 
them  into  his  vineyard.  "  When  even  was  come," 
he  ordered  his  steward  to  pay  the  men.  The 
eleventh  hour  men  were  paid  first,  and  received 
"  every  man  a  penny."  And  all  the  rest,  the 
ninth,  the  sixth,  the  third  hour  men,  and  even  the 
early  morning  hour  men  likewise,  received  "  every 
man  a  penny."  Those  that  had  worked  all  day 
supposed  they  would  receive  more,  but  they  did 
not.  Those  that  worked  twelve  hours  and  those 
that  worked  one  hour  got  just  the  same.  Now 
wherein  is  all  this,  or  any  of  it,  like  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  ?  It  seems  very  unlike.  God  does  not 
appear  to  do  things  in  this  way. 

But  let  us  get  Christ's  view-point.  He  stood 
there  with  a  few  disciples.  He  had  just  told  a 
rich  young  man,  who  had  come  asking  what  he 
must  do  to  have  eternal  life,  to  go  and  sell  all  that 
he  had  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  he  would  have 
treasure  in  heaven.  And  the  young  man  went 
away  sorrowful,  for  he  was  very  rich.  And  Christ 
said  to  His  disciples :  It  is  hard,  it  is  impossible, 
for  a  rich  man,  trusting  in  his  riches,  to  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  Peter  said,  "  Lo,  we 
have  left  all,  and  followed  Thee;  what  then  shall 
we  have  ?"     Jesus  saw  their  hearts,  and  knew  they 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOM     83 

loved  Him,  and  He  said  they  should  have  a  hun- 
dred-fold more.  But  He  also  saw  in  their  query 
a  spirit  that  might  breed  infinite  trouble  if  not 
checked  and  repressed.  What  shall  we  have  ? 
"  What  shall  we  have  ?"  asked  the  disciples, 
betraying  a  spirit  which,  if  much  indulged,  might 
lead  them  to  think  more  of  what  they  were  to 
have  or  get  than  of  what  they  ought  to  be.  So 
Christ  answers,  "  Ye  shall  have  eternal  life  indeed," 
but — look  out — "  many  shall  be  last  that  are  first, 
and  first  that  are  last " — i.  e.,  have  a  care,  lest  in 
being  too  intent  on  reward,  you  miss  the  very 
spirit  of  My  cross  and  passion,  and  lose  every- 
thing. 

We  need  only  to  recall  what  Christ  said  on 
another  occasion,  to  see  what  fearful  possibili- 
ties lie  along  this  road.  "  Many  will  say  to  Me," 
are  His  solemn  words,  "  Many  will  say  to  Me  in 
that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  did  we  not  prophesy  by 
Thy  name,  and  by  Thy  name  cast  out  demons,  and 
by  Thy  name  do  many  mighty  works  ?  And 
then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you  : 
depart  from  Me."  Do  you  wonder  at  Christ's 
warning  word  ?  As  if  He  had  said,  "  Take  care  ! 
take  care !  lest  ye  be  found  following  Me  for  the 
loaves  and  fishes." 

Now  the  parable  of  the  laborers  was  spoken  to 


84  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

meet  this  exact  condition.  And  it  was  clearly 
told  to  show  that  it  is  not  amount  of  toil,  but 
acceptance  of  a  condition  that  gives  us  heaven  or 
eternal  Hfe.  "A  penny  a  day"  was  the  agree- 
ment with  these  laborers ;  but,  mark  you,  the  par- 
able knows  only  one  day.  "  When  even  was 
come,"  the  record  says,  they  settled  up.  That 
one  day,  therefore,  represents  human  life,  and  the 
different  hours  of  the  day,  the  different  periods 
of  human  life.  And  "  the  penny  "  represents  what 
each  laborer  receives,  no  matter  at  what  hour 
he  begins  his  toil.  Each  gets  just  the  same.  In 
other  words,  it  is  not  given  for  requital  of  toil, 
but  for  acceptance  of  a  condition.  We  see  now 
the  perfect  adaptation  of  the  parable  to  teach  this 
one  great  truth — that  eternal  life,  salvation,  heaven 
is  not  gotten  by  labor,  is  not  paid  for  by  much 
toil.  The  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life  through  Jesus 
Christ.  To  speak  of  earning  a  gift  is  a  contra- 
diction. Salvation  is  solely  of  grace.  To  talk 
of  paying  for  grace  is  to  despoil  grace  of  all  its 
glory  and  to  make  it  a  debt.  The  condition  of 
securing  salvation  is  willingness  to  be  a  bond- 
servant of  Jesus  Christ,  to  take  up  the  cross  and 
follow  Him.  "  He  that  believeth  " — not  he  that 
worketh — "  he  that  believeth  hath  eternal  life." 
The  hour  a  sinner  believes,  heaven  is  his,  whether 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOM     85 

the  hour  is  the  third,  the  sixth,  the  ninth,  or  the 
last.  The  penitent  dying  thief  is  as  sure  of  heaven 
as  the  dying  apostle,  though  behind  the  thief  is  a 
life  of  sin,  not  a  moment  of  which  has  been  given 
to  God ;  and  though  behind  the  apostle  is  a  life 
of  service  packed  to  the  full  with  work  for  God. 
By  faith  alone  Rahab,  the  harlot,  and  by  faith 
alone  Moses,  the  seer,  went  home  to  God.  By 
faith  alone  the  dying  penitent  thief,  and  by  faith 
alone  the  dying  Paul,  went  home  to  God. 

Works  do  not  win  heaven.  Each  of  all  the 
toilers  for  God  goes  through  heaven's  gates  sing- 
ing: 

"  I'm  a  poor  sinner  and  nothing  at  all, 
And  Jesus  Christ  is  my  all  in  all." 

But  is  there  not  a  difference  ?  There  is  an  im- 
mense difference.  Does  Christian  work  bring  us 
nothing  ?  Christian  work  brings  us  something 
wonderful.  Heaven  is  not  reward  for  work  done 
here,  but  there  'is  reward  in  heaven  for  work  done 
here.  The  parable  of  the  laborers  tells  us  a  part 
of  the  truth  concerning  the  labor  question  in  the 
kingdom,  but  it  does  not  tell  us  all  the  truth. 

We  turn  to  the  second  of  the  labor  parables, 
and  we  find  it  giving  us  further  light  on  this  ques- 
tion of  toil  in  God's  kingdom. 

It  is  known  as  "  The  Parable  of  the  Talents." 


86  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  as  when  a  man,  going 
into  another  country,  commits  to  his  servants  his 
goods,  giving  to  one  five  talents,  to  another  two, 
and  to  another  one.  After  a  long  time  the  lord 
of  these  servants  comes  back  and  makes  a  reck- 
oning with  them.  He  who  had  received  five  tal- 
ents reports  that  he  has  gained  five  more.  And 
his  lord  says,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  ser- 
vant :  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things, 
I  will  set  thee  over  many  things ;  enter  thou  into 
the  joy  of  thy  lord."  The  servant  with  two  talents 
reports  that  he  has  gained  two  more,  and  his  lord 
says  exactly  the  same  to  him  that  he  said  to  the 
first,  "  Thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things, 
I  will  set  thee  over  many  things ;  enter  thou  into 
the  joy  of  thy  lord." 
V   ,  Here   now  is   not  only  distinct  recognition  of 

f        V  service,  but  specific  reward  for  it.     Fidelity  over 

a  few  things  here  puts  us  in  trust  of  many  things 
there.  Our  toil  does  not  give  us  eternal  life,  but 
it  enriches  our  eternal  life.  Our  work  for  God  on 
earth  does  not  open  heaven  to  us,  but  it  makes  a 
different  heaven — a  wider  heaven ;  may  we  not 
reverently  say  it,  a  richer  heaven.  Faithful  over 
a  few  things — set  over  many  things.  That's  the 
story.  And  it  exactly  fits  into  other  Scripture, 
and  is  gloriously  corroborated  thereby. 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOxM     87 

"  Lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven." 
What  does  this  mean  if  it  does  not  imply  possi- 
bility of  enrichment  in  heaven  by  the  character 
of  our  life  and  the  quality  of  our  doing  on  earth  ? 
"  Blessed  are  ye,  when  men  shall  revile  you,  and 
persecute  you,  and  shall  say  all  manner  of  evil 
against  you  falsely.  Rejoice  and  be  exceeding 
glad."  Why?  "For  great  is  your  reward  in 
heaven."  For  very  proof  of  this,  borrow  John's 
eyes  and  look  into  heaven,  and  see  the  shining 
ones  with  white  robes  and  palms  in  their  hands. 
And  then  listen,  that  you  may  hear  the  angel  say- 
ing, "  These  are  they  that  come  out  of  the  great 
tribulation."  But  it  is  not  alone  the  great  trials 
and  the  great  deeds  that  shall  have  reward.  He 
who  gives  a  cup  of  cold  water  for  Christ's  sake 
shall  in  no  wise  lose  his  reward.  So  it  shall 
be,  says  the  apostle,  if  any  man's  work  abide 
after  the  trial  of  fire,  he  shall  receive  a  reward 
for  it.  Over  and  above  admission  to  heaven 
and  participation  in  its  common  glories  and 
common  joys  will  be  these  gifts  of  God  in 
reward  of  toil.  Thank  God,  while  it  is  written 
of  the  wicked,  "  The  wages  of  sin  is  death  "  ;  it  is 
also  written  of  the  righteous,  "  He  that  reapeth 
receiveth  wages."  He  that  works  for  God  shall 
not   work    for  nothing,  any    more   than    he  that 


88  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

works  for  the  Devil.  And  think  of  the  difference 
in  the  wages !  Christian  work  is  better  paid  than 
any  other  work.  God  is  not  a  hard  task-master, 
reaping  where  He  has  not  sown,  or  gathering 
where  He  has  not  strewn.  "  Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant :  thou  hast  been  faithful  over 
a  few  things,  I  will  set  thee  over  many  things ; 
enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  lord." 

By  this  parable  of  the  talents  one  thing  is  thus 
made  unquestionable  as  to  the  labor  question  in 
the  kingdom  of  God :  labor  is  to  be  rewarded. 
Not  the  least  fidelity  is  to  go  without  recognition. 

But  is  all  reward  to  be  the  same  ?  Is  each 
toiler  to  get  what  every  other  toiler  gets  ?  Is 
there  no  discrimination  in  the  wages  to  be  paid  ? 
Here  is  the  servant  with  five  talents,  who  has 
gained  five  talents  more.  "  Well  done,"  says  the 
master.  "  Thou  hast  been  faithful.  I  will  reward 
thee.  Enter  into  my  joy."  But  the  lord  says 
the  same  thing,  exactly  the  same  thing,  to  the 
servant  who  had  two  talents  and  gained  two 
more.  Is  there  then  to  be  no  gradation  in  re- 
ward, whereby  it  is  proportioned  to  service  ? 
Suppose  that  the  man  with  one  talent,  who  buried 
his  lord's  money  and  put  it  to  no  use,  had  so 
traded  with  it  as  to  put  it  to  great  use,  and 
thereby  had  gained  ten  talents  more,  and,  bring- 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOM     89 

ing  it  to  his  master,  had  said,  "  Here,  lord,  the 
one  talent  thou  gavest  me  has  gained  ten." 

Now  is  it  all  one  in  the  kingdom  of  God, 
whether  a  man  with  five  talents  gains  five  talents 
more  or  gains  fifty  talents  more  ?  Is  it  all  one 
whether  a  man  with  three  talents  gains  three  tal- 
ents or  thirty  talents  ?  No,  it  is  not  all  one  ;  and 
the  third  of  the  labor  parables  brings  out  this 
truth  by  introducing  the  principle  of  proportion 
in  the  awards  of  the  kingdom. 

It  is  known  as  "  The  Parable  of  the  Pounds." 
We  are  distinctly  told  it  was  spoken  because  He 
was  nigh  to  Jerusalem,  and  because  they  sup- 
posed that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  immediately 
to  appear.  No,  it  is  not  immediately  to  appear ; 
and  you  are  to  suffer  and  to  lose  your  sacred 
city.  But  be  faithful,  keep  true  to  the  trust  I 
have  committed  to  you.  And  at  the  last,  when 
I  come,  your  eternal  reward  shall  be  exceeding 
great  and  proportioned  to  your  fidelity.  And 
here  is  the  story :  A  certain  nobleman  was 
going  to  a  far  country ;  and  he  called  his  ten  ser- 
vants, and  gave  each  of  them  a  pound,  saying, 
"  Trade  ye  herewith  till  I  come."  And  when  he 
returned  he  asked  for  an  account  of  what  his 
servants  had  done,  "  that  he  might  know  what 
they  had  gained  by  trading."     And  the  first  said, 


90  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

"  Lord,  thy  pound  hath  made  ten  pounds  more." 
And  the  lord  said,  "  Well  done,  thou  good 
servant,  .  .  .  have  thou  authority  over  ten  cities." 
And  the  second  came,  saying,  "  Thy  pound,  Lord, 
hath  made  five  pounds."  And  the  lord  said,  "  Be 
thou  also  over  five  cities." 
•>  ^  Beyond  all  question  the  vital  thing  here  is,  not 

Ji  what  we  are  put  in  trust  with,  but  the  gains  we 

make  for  God  by  it.  Fidelity,  activity,  efficiency, 
are  not  only  to  have  reward  in  heaven,  but  to 
have  reward  according  to  their  productivity.  If 
your  one  pound  has  gained  ten,  that  means  a 
trust  of  ten  cities.  If  your  one  pound  has  gained 
five,  that  means  a  trust  of  five  cities.  And  don't 
you  see  that  from  one  pound  to  ten  cities,  and 
from  one  pound  to  five  cities,  is  not  only  im- 
mense promotion,  but  promotion  proportioned  to 
gain  ? 

This  is  God's  law  of  labor  everywhere — in  the 
kingdom  of  nature  and  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven ; 
in  the  natural  world  and  in  the  spiritual  world. 
The  man  that  puts  his  money  to  good  use,  gets 
both  more  capacity  to  gain  and  more  gains.  He 
gets  paid  by  increase  of  capital  for  his  employ- 
ment of  capital.  The  blow  of  the  blacksmith 
tells  both  ways.  It  tells  on  the  iron,  fitting  it  for 
greater  profit.    It  tells  on  the  muscles  of  his  arm — 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOM     91 

fitting  that  for  profit,  too.  He  gets  power  while 
expending  power. 

So  it  is  in  the  kingdom.  They  that  do  the 
most  for  God  become  the  most,  not  arbitrarily, 
but  by  an  inevitable  law.  They  do,  even  now 
and  here.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  God  does  not 
pay  wages  day  by  day,  but  in  the  end  He  pays. 
Ah,  He  does  both !  He  that  works  receives 
wages  day  by  day.  He  gets  more  soul  as  he 
deals  with  souls.  He  gets  more  of  God  as  he 
deals  with  God.  His  Christlike  work  begets  the 
Christlike  spirit.  He  puts  Christ  into  his  word 
and  deed,  and  Christ  comes  back  to  him  and  into 
him  in  the  very  effort.  He  gets  Christ  by  giving 
Christ,  just  as  the  blacksmith  gets  power  by  ex- 
pending power. 

The  measure  of  the  return  ?  There  is  no 
measure.  There  is  absolutely  no  limit  to  growth 
in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God — in  the  gifts 
and  graces  of  godliness — in  faith  and  love  and 
patience  and  spiritual  power — in  capacity  for  joy 
and  blessedness.  And  when  the  Christian  toiler 
and  his  Lord  meet  for  settlement,  what  is  his  full 
reward  ?  Why,  it  is  the  great  capital  of  capacity 
for  joy  and  blessedness  and  high  place  and  com- 
prehension of  God  which  he  carries  into  heaven, 
and   the   great  capital  of  treasures  laid  up,  and 


92  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

sources  of  glory  and  joy  prepared  and  reserved 
by  God  as  his  reward,  which  awaits  him  there. 
Two  capitals,  therefore :  one  within  the  soul  and 
one  without;  one,  capacity  for  joy  and  blessed- 
ness, and  one,  sources  of  joy  and  blessedness. 
A  double  portion,  exceeding  great  and  precious, 
each  making  the  other  a  richer  possession  by 
being  itself  possessed. 

This  is  no  mere  fetch  of  fancy.  Think  of 
Paul,  counting  all  things  but  loss  to  know  Christ 
and  the  power  of  His  resurrection  and  the  fellow- 
ship of  His  sufferings,  sounding  out  his  warnings 
night  and  day  with  tears,  willing  to  be  all  things 
to  all  men  that  he  might  save  some,  in  journey- 
ings  often,  in  perils  of  rivers,  and  robbers,  and  city 
and  wilderness,  and  false  brethren,  in  labors,  in 
prisons,  in  stripes,  fighting  the  good  fight,  finish- 
ing his  course  and  keeping  the  faith,  and  then 
going  home — think  what  he  carried  into  heaven, 
and  what  met  him  there — think  of  the  wages  paid 
him  day  by  day  while  he  toiled,  and  the  wages 
paid  him  when  he  met  his  Lord  over  the  river. 
And  then  place  beside  him  in  your  thought  the 
effortless,  aimless,  dyspeptic,  kid-gloved  Christian 
of  his  day  or  our  day,  never  grasping  a  sickle  and 
thrusting  it  in  to  try  and  gather  a  sheaf  for  Christ, 
never   moved   with    compassion   at   sight  of  the 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOM     93 

unsaved  multitude ;  never  bearing  a  cross  or  fight- 
ing a  battle  or  turning  one  sinner  from  the  error 
of  his  way — with  just  enough  of  the  grace  of  God 
in  his  heart  to  secure  his  being  borne  to  heaven 
at  last  as  if  by  ambulance ;  he  himself  saved 
indeed,  yet  so  as  by  fire.  Tell  me  now,  is  heaven 
a  dead  level,  a  kind  of  macadamized  road,  a  vast 
flat  prairie,  without  a  mount  of  vision  or  a  grada- 
tion of  joy,  where  these  two  souls  shall  be  in 
equal  as  well  as  everlasting  content  ?  Or  is  the 
heaven  of  the  one  so  much  more  rich  and  high 
than  the  other,  so  much  more  comprehensive  of 
God,  so  treasure-stored  and  capable  of  a  ministry 
of  joy  as  to  make  it  seem  by  comparison  as  if 
there  could  be  such  a  thing  as  poverty  in  heaven  ? 

Thus  do  these  three  parables  embody  and  en- 
force three  great  truths  concerning  labor  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Let  us  re-state  them.  Em- 
bosomed in  the  parable  of  the  laborers  we  have 
found  this  truth, — that  amount  of  labor  has  noth- 
ing to  do  with  our  getting  into  heaven.  "  A 
penny  a  day "  means  heaven  alike  for  the  first- 
hour  Christian  and  the  eleventh-hour  Christian. 

Nevertheless,  labor  has  a  good  deal  to  do  with 
our  heaven.  For  the  parable  of  the  talents  teaches 
that  for  labor  done  on  earth  wages  will  be  paid  in 
heaven. 


94  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

In    the    parable  of  the  pounds   we    find    this 
voice  of  God ;  that  reward  for  labor  will  be  ex- 
actly proportioned  to  the  quality  and  the  quantity 
of  labor. 
A^v'  Some    great   and    precious    lessons    are    thus 

brought  home  to  us. 

This,  first :  It  is  right  to  do  God's  work  for  pay. 
Let  us  dare  to  believe  and  say  that  the  promise 
and  prospect  of  reward  for  service  in  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  a  true  and  worthy  stimulus  to  toil. 

It  is  not  the  highest  motive  to  service.  If  the 
only  motive,  it  is  selfish  and  so  condemnable. 
But  if,  along  with  the  motive  to  do  right  and  serve 
God  for  right's  own  sake  irrespective  of  conse- 
quence, there  is  also  the  motive  to  serve  God  for 
the  wages  He  pays,  are  we  blameworthy  ?  Then 
is  God  blameworthy  for  telling  us  that  they  who 
turn  many  unto  righteousness  shall  shine  as  the 
stars  for  ever  and  ever  ?  He  has  made  the  way 
of  toil  all  "  wooly  soft  with  promise."  He  has 
used  the  most  brilliant  and  gorgeous  possibilities 
of  color  in  painting  the  rewards  of  the  righteous. 
And  if  God  thus  holds  out  to  us  promise  of  pay, 
surely  it  is  right  to  care  for  and  think  of  and 
desire  the  payment. 

Oh,  brethren,  in  lifting  up  an  ideal  of  Christian 
character,  let  us  take  care  that  we  do  not  try  to 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOM     95 

build  better  than  our  Lord,  lest  our  ideal  cast  a 
shadow  on  Him  !  He,  "  for  the  joy  that  was  set 
before  Him  endured  the  cross,  despising  the 
shame." 

A  second  lesson  is :  Our  works  are  immortal 
as  well  as  we.  We  are  not  done  with  our  works 
when  we  have  done  them.  We  are  to  look  them 
in  the  face  again.  And  one  of  the  most  impres- 
sive scenes  in  Scripture  is  that  which  pictures  life 
as  a  procession  of  witnessing  works  preceding 
and  following  the  doer  to  judgment.  Here  it  is: 
"  Some  men's  sins  are  open  beforehand,  going 
before  to  judgment;  and  some  men  they  follow 
after.  Likewise  also  the  good  works  of  some  are 
manifest  beforehand ;  and  they  that  are  otherwise 
cannot  be  hid." 

Let  us  stand  before  this  picture  for  a  moment 
and  try  to  take  it  in.  Some  men's  sins  have  such 
a  dark  and  woeful  prominence  that  they  cast  their 
shadows  before  to  judgment.  Some  men's  sins 
are  under  covert — in  secret — but  "  they  follow 
after."  They  are  on  their  track.  "  Likewise 
also  the  good  works  of  some  are  manifest  before- 
hand." Such  is  the  splendor  of  their  radiant 
glory  that  it  is  shot  on  ahead,  the  prophecy  of 
their  coming.  "  But  the  good  works  that  are 
otherwise  cannot  be   hid."     Works  done  off  the 


gS  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

highway  and  in  quiet  paths  where  the  violets  and 
the  pansies  bloom,  almost  hidden  from  sight — the 
lowly  deeds  of  toil  that  make  no  noise  in  their 
doing,  and  never  sound  a  trumpet  before  them, 
the  mites  of  the  widow,  the  cups  of  cold  water — 
these  cannot  be  hid. 

Oh,  the  sighs  and  sobs,  heard  only  by  God,  that 
shall  be  changed  into  songs  of  deliverance !  Oh, 
the  tears  of  the  heart,  seen  only  by  God,  that 
shall  be  as  jewels  in  the  crowns  of  the  ransomed ! 
Oh,  the  little  cups  of  cold  water  handed  out  in 
Christ's  name,  that  shall  be  living  fountains  of 
joy  in  the  better  country  !  Oh,  the  flowers,  scarce 
daring  to  look  up  into  the  face  of  one  of  God's 
fair  days  on  earth  that  shall  bank  the  river  of  the 
water  of  life  with  their  beauty,  and  make  an 
addition  even  to  the  fragrance  and  bloom  of 
heaven !  Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in  the 
Lord — for  their  works  do  follow  them, 

A  third  lesson  is  this :  We  who  go  through 
heaven's  gates  shall  all  "  enter  into  the  joy  of  our 
Lord  "  ;  but  as  to  the  depths  we  shall  go  into  the 
Lord's  joy,  what  a  difference  there  will  be !  A 
little  child  is  satisfied  with  the  rhymes  of  the 
nursery,  and  its  joy  is  full.  But  into  the  joy  of  a 
Beethoven  symphony  or  a  Handel's  "  Messiah  " 
it  cannot  go.     It  has  no  capacity  for  the  deep  and 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION  IN  THE  KINGDOM     97 

delicious  harmonies.  So  a  Christian  that  has 
touched  only  the  hem  of  Christ's  garment  shall 
enter  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord.  But  what  a  sur- 
face thing  that  will  be  compared  with  the  joy  of 
him  who  has  walked  and  talked  with  Jesus  on 
many  an  Emmaus  way,  and  with  a  burning  heart 
— who  has  toiled  for  Him,  suffered  for  Him, 
sought  and  found  intimacies  of  communion  and 
so  has  greatly  grown  in  capacity  for  fellowship — 
and  to  whom  the  Master  shall  at  last  say  at  the 
end  of  the  journey,  "  Enter  thou  into  My  joy." 

And  here  is  the  final  lesson  :  The  Church  is  not 
a  nursery,  nor  an  arbor  of  rest,  nor  a  land  Beulah. 
She  has  these,  blessed  be  God,  and  into  them  any 
behever  may  go  to  be  comforted  and  rested.  But 
the  Church  is — by  the  very  law  of  her  life  and 
the  very  purpose  of  her  beijtg — a  force  in  action, 
a  power  for  ever  making  for  righteousness.  How 
can  she  be  true  to  her  mission,  and  fail  of  this  ? 
What  is  her  mission  ?  Go,  do,  suffer,  obey,  wit- 
ness, testify,  spread  the  news,  scatter  the  seed, 
preach  the  word,  seek,  save,  capture,  conquer. 
This  is  what  she  is  in  the  world  for.  There  is  no 
reason  why  she  should  stay  here  a  day  except  for 
this.  Do  you  remember  how  the  letters  to  the 
seven  churches  begin  ?  "I  know  thy  works." 
"  I  know  thy  works."  "  I  know  thy  works."  Do 
7 


98  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

you  remember  the  basis  of  reward  in  the  last 
great  day ?  "I  was  sick,  I  was  hungry,  I  was  in 
prison,  and  ye  ministered  unto  Me."  Does  it  not 
almost  look  as  if  works  were  everything  ? 

In  the  light  of  all  this,  what  must  we  think  of  a 
Church  or  a  Christian  content  with  downy  pillows 
and  couches  of  ease,  or  busy  with  external  mate- 
rial matters,  busy  with  business,  busy  with  social 
functions,  busy,  it  may  be,  with  devices  to  make 
the  outward  appointments  of  the  sanctuary  artistic 
and  imposing — but  busy  with  no  real  work  for 
God  !  Oh,  the  shame  of  it !  The  sin  of  it !  The 
folly  of  it !     And  the  fearful  risk ! 


V 

THE   INESCAPABLE   CONCLUSION 


V 

THE   INESCAPABLE   CONCLUSION 

"  And  if  the  righteous  scarcely  be  saved,  where  shall  the 
ungodly  and  the  sinner  appear?" — I  Peter  iv.  i8. 

Difficulty  of  process  does  not  mean  uncer- 
tainty of  issue.  The  end  may  be  sure  while  the 
way  there  is  hard.  This  thought,  in  one  form  or 
another,  has  been  set  in  proverbs.  "  The  mills  of 
God  grind  slowly,  yet  they  grind  exceeding 
small."  That  is  the  divine  side  of  it.  The  grind- 
ing is  slow  and  difficult,  but  God's  mills  never 
fail.  "  Perseverance  conquers  all  things."  That 
is  the  human  side  of  it.  Indeed,  in  a  burst  of 
enthusiasm,  resolution  has  been  declared  "  omnip- 
otent." Turning  to  the  Scriptures  we  find  the 
thought  phrased  thus :  "  Through  much  tribula- 
tion we  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  The 
way  to  heaven  is  at  a  cost.  It  is  over  mountains 
and  through  seas.  It  is  by  hard  battling,  fierce 
conflict,  struggle  and  heartache,  stress  and  pain, 
loss  and  cross,  with  exceeding  great  difficulty. 
But  it  is  heaven  at  last,  sure  !  It  is  through  much 
tribulation  the  righteous  enter  into  the  kingdom, 


I02  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

but  they  enter.  "  I  give  unto  them  eternal  hfe," 
says  Jesus,  "and  they  shall  never  perish."  Peter, 
therefore,  is  not  casting  any  doubt  upon  the  sal- 
vation of  the  righteous  by  his  frank  admission  of 
the  difficulty  of  it.  He  tells  the  Christians  to 
whom  he  is  writing  that  they  are  to  meet  fiery 
trial ;  that  they  are  to  be  reproached  for  the  name 
of  Christ:  but  he  bids  them  rejoice  at  this,  pro- 
nounces them  "blessed"  for  it,  and  says  "the 
Spirit  of  glory  and  the  Spirit  of  God  resteth  upon 
you."  Of  course,  if  they  suffer  because  of  their 
evil  doing  there  is  no  such  consolation  for  them. 
"  See  to  it  that  no  one  of  you  suffer  as  an  evil- 
doer" is  Peter's  warning  word.  But  if  a  man  suffer 
as  a  Christian,  let  him  not  be  ashamed,  but  let  him 
glorify  God  in  this  name.  For  the  time  is  come 
for  judgment  to  begin  at  the  house  of  God.  Yes, 
Christians  must  suffer.  There  are  times  at  hand 
to  try  men's  souls.  But  if  judgment  begin  first 
at  us,  if  we  who  love  God  and  are  trying  to  live 
righteous  lives  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  have 
a  hard  time  of  it  getting  to  heaven,  what  shall  be 
the  end  of  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  ?  If 
the  righteous  be  scarcely  saved — i.  e.,  saved  with 
difficulty — where  shall  the  ungodly  and  sinner 
appear  ? 

The  difficulty  of  salvation  to  the  righteous  is 


THE  INESCAPABLE  CONCLUSION  103 

thus  made  an  argument  for  the  impossibility  of 
salvation  to  the  ungodly. 

Is  the  argument  valid  ?  Let  us,  without  fear  or 
favor,  test  it  now  and  here. 

How  about  the  premise  ?  Is  that  good  ?  Are 
the  righteous  through  faith  in  Christ  saved  with 
difficulty  ?  And  if  that  be  true,  how  about  the 
conclusion  drawn  from  it — that  the  ungodly  can- 
not be  saved  at  all  ?  Is  that  also  true — the  inex- 
orable, inescapable  next  step  ?  And  if  the  argu- 
ment be  flawless,  the  premise  good,  and  the  con- 
clusion irresistible,  what  then  ? 

The  righteous  are  saved  with  difficulty.  Of 
course,  this  cannot  be  because  God  is  weak.  If  it 
were  a  question  of  mere  omnipotence,  there  could 
be  no  difficulty  about  it.  For  nothing  possible  to 
omnipotence  can  be  difficult  for  omnipotence.  But 
God  in  this  matter  is  dealing  with  a  voluntary  and 
rational  creature  whom  He  has  made.  He  has 
endowed  man  with  a  free  will,  giving  him  the 
power  and  therefore  the  respon.sibility  of  choice. 
He  must  respect  that  will.  Its  voluntariness  is  its 
existence.     A  compelled  will  is  a  contradiction, 

"  And  He  that  looketh  high  and  wide, 
Nor  pauses  in  His  plan, 
Will  take  the  sun  out  of  the  sky, 
Ere  freedom  out  of  man." 


I04  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

The  power  that  created  the  will  can  annihilate  the 
will,  but  even  though  it  be  the  power  of  the  infi- 
nite and  almighty  God,  it  cannot  force  the  will. 
The  moment  the  will  is  forced  it  ceases  to  be  free ; 
it  ceases  to  be  will. 

So  it  is  not  because  of  any  divine  impotency 
that  the  Christian  is  saved  with  difficulty.  It 
is  no  weakness  of  God  that  makes  the  process 
hard. 

Nor  is  the  difficulty  because  of  any  inadequacy 
of  the  atonement.  God  in  the  atonement  makes 
it  impossible  there  should  be  any  necessity  of  sin 
or  demand  of  law  the  atonement  does  not  meet. 
God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him 
should  be  saved.  Saved  with  difficulty,  indeed, 
but  not  because  of  any  defect  whatever  in  the  aton- 
ing sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ.  By  that  gift  of  love 
God  made  an  atonement  sufficient  for  and  adapted 
to  all  the  world.  It  is  adequate  to  every  case. 
It  covers  the  worst  sinner  and  the  weakest  and 
wickedest  saint.  The  difficulty  of  saving  the 
righteous  is  not  from  any  lack  of  amplitude  of 
provision  for  their  salvation. 

But  there  are  three  reasons  why  the  righteous 
man  is  saved  with  difficulty :  because  of  the 
deceitfulness    of  his    old   nature ;  because  of  the 


THE  INESCAPABLE  CONCLUSION  105 

weakness  of  his  new  nature ;  and  because  of  the 
power  and  subtlety  of  Satan. 

His  old  nature  still  clings  to  him,  even  though 
he  is  a  new  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  is  justified, 
but  he  is  not  sanctified.  He  is  freed  from  sin's 
condemnation,  but  not  wholly  from  sin's  power 
and  pollution.  A  new  principle  has  been  planted 
in  his  bosom,  but  the  old  principle  has  not  been 
driven  out.  The  mastery  has  been  begun,  but  it 
is  not  complete.  That  old  nature  is  deceitful  still 
and  clamorous  for  indulgence.  The  tides  of  the 
old  passions  and  appetites  sometimes  run  high. 
Every  righteous  man  knows  what  subtleties  of 
treachery  and  falsehood  are  still  wrapped  up  in 
this  old  heart. 

Add  to  this  the  weakness  of  the  new  nature. 
It  is  just  born.  The  currents  of  the  new  life  have 
not  been  set.  Principles  are  not  established. 
Faith's  vision  is  dim.  "  Babes  in  Christ "  is  the 
Scriptural  phrase  that  tells  the  exact  situation. 
Growth  in  grace  has  just  begun. 

Now,  to  this  deceitfulness  of  the  old  nature  and 
to  this  weakness  of  the  new  nature,  join  the  power 
and  subtlety  of  Satan,  and  you  have  the  three- 
fold reason  why  the  righteous  is  saved  with  dififi- 
culty.  The  Devil  is  committed  by  every  instinct 
of  his  nature  to  the  overthrow  of  the  child  of 


io6  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

God.  He  goes  about  as  a  roaring  lion,  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour,  and  is  especially  set  to  the 
destruction  of  Christians,  If  any  one  is  disposed 
to  deny  the  personality  of  the  Devil,  he  does  not 
thereby  get  rid  of  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world — 
intense,  abounding,  and  malignant — a  foe  to 
everything  good.  And  the  Scriptures  imperson- 
ate this  evil,  call  this  person  Satan,  Apollyon,  the 
Dragon,  fill  him  with  all  subtlety,  malignity, 
and  craft,  and  represent  him  as  Prince  of  the 
power  of  the  air  and  Lord  of  hell.  Christ  said  to 
poor,  tempted,  storm-tossed  Peter,  "  Satan  hath 
desired  to  have  you  that  he  may  sift  you  as 
wheat." 

Paul,  so  often  buffeted  of  Satan,  says,  "  We 
wrestle  not  only  against  flesh  and  blood,  but 
against  principalities  and  powers,  and  the  rulers 
of  the  darkness  of  this  world,  and  spirits  of  wick- 
edness in  high  places." 

These  are  the  forces,  led  by  an  alert  and 
mighty  foe,  arrayed  against  every  believer  in 
Christ  Jesus,  and  bent  upon  his  destruction.  They 
are  represented  and  given  a  potent  personality  in 
their  insidious  and  malignant  leader,  Satan.  The 
evil  is  made  the  Devil.  And  the  Scriptures 
declare  that  the  Devil  tried  his  hellish  arts  on 
Christ,  tempting  Him  by  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the 


THE  INESCAPABLE  CONCLUSION  107 

lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  Hfe.  The  word 
of  God  also  declares  that  the  Devil  "  sifted  "  Peter, 
that  he  "  hindered  and  buffeted "  Paul,  that  he 
"  resisted  "  Joshua,  that  he  "  accused  "  Job,  that 
he  makes  war  on  the  saints,  that  he  is  a  murderer 
from  the  beginning,  a  liar  and  the  father  of  lies, 
clothing  himself  as  an  angel  of  light,  and  deceiv- 
ing, if  possible,  the  very  elect. 

Surely  we  see  now  why  the  righteous  are  saved 
with  difficulty.  The  deceitfulness  of  the  old 
nature,  the  weakness  of  the  new  nature,  and  the 
power  and  subtlety  of  Satan  make  it  clear.  And 
every  child  of  God  knows  something  of  the  diffi- 
culty.    The  knowledge  is  born  of  experience. 

Constant  struggle  is  one  phase  of  this  expe- 
rience. Frequent  defeat  is  another  phase.  Divine 
chastening  is  another.  The  end  is  sure,  but  the 
road  is  rough.  The  issue  is  certain,  but  the  con- 
flict ceaseless  and  sometimes  intense. 

Take  the  constancy  of  the  struggle.  With  the 
old  nature  and  the  new  nature  ever  in  strife  for 
the  ascendency,  what  else  than  a  field  of  battle 
could  the  Christian  heart  be  until  the  field  is  won  ! 
Will  against  will,  desire  against  desire,  lust  against 
love,  passion  against  principle,  "  I  don't  want  to  " 
against  "  I  ought."  This  double  personality  is  no 
fiction.     There  is  an  "  I  "  and  an  "  I  "  at  variance : 


io8  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

two  wills  that  are  locking  horns.  What  a  tran- 
script of  this  common  experience  is  the  seventh 
of  Romans!  "  The  good  which  I  would  I  do  not: 
but  the  evil  which  I  would  not,  that  I  practice. 
I  find  then  the  law,  that,  to  me  who  would  do 
good,  evil  is  present.  For  I  delight  in  the  law  of 
God  after  the  inward  man :  but  I  see  a  different 
law  in  my  members,  warring  against  the  law  of 
my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  under  the 
law  of  sin  which  is  in  my  members.  Wretched 
man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the 
body  of  this  death  ?" 

This  is  no  exceptional  experience.  Paul's  tes- 
timony is  the  testimony  of  Christendom.  Read 
the  roll  call  of  God's  heroes  in  the  eleventh  of 
Hebrews.  They  had  trial  of  mockings  and 
scourgings,  of  bonds  and  imprisonment.  They 
were  tempted,  they  were  stoned,  they  were  desti- 
tute, afflicted,  evil-entreated,  fightings  without  and 
fears  within.  Recall  Bunyan's  representation  of 
the  pilgrim  Christian  on  his  way  from  the  city  of 
destruction  to  the  city  of  God,  What  struggles, 
conflicts,  bitternesses,  sore  straits,  he  gets  into ! 
He  is  shut  up  in  Doubting  Castle,  kept  by  one 
Giant  Despair.  And  multitudes  of  other  Chris- 
tians have  been  there,  too.  Who  does  not  know 
Doubting    Castle  ?      He    meets    Apollyon,   who 


THE  INESCAPABLE  CONCLUSION  109 

swears  by  his  infernal  den  that  he  will  spill  his 
soul.  And  never,  until  he  crosses  the  river  and 
enters  into  the  heavenly  city,  does  the  trouble 
cease. 

Do  you  say  this  is  the  talk  of  a  dreamer  ?  The 
play  of  poetic  fancy  ?  Read  Bunyan's  "  Grace 
Abounding  to  the  Chief  of  Sinners,"  and  see  how 
terribly  real  it  is,  copied  literally  out  of  his  own 
heart.  Read  any  record  of  deep  spiritual  experi- 
ence— David's  in  the  fifty-first  Psalm,  that  sob 
of  a  broken,  penitent  heart ;  Peter's  in  the  gos- 
pel, struggling  Peter,  rebuked,  smitten,  falling, 
rising  again,  weeping,  rejoicing,  and  writing  at  last 
to  other  struggling  and  bruised  Christians,  "Think 
it  not  strange  concerning  the  fiery  trial  .  .  , 
which  cometh  upon  you  to  prove  you,  as  though  a 
strange  thing  happened  unto  you."  Not  strange. 
No ;  it  is  the  common  lot,  "  In  the  world  ye 
shall  have  tribulation."  Deny  thyself,  and  take 
up  thy  cross  daily.  Watch.  Be  sober.  Put  on 
the  armor  of  God.  Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith. 
Quit  you  like  men.  These  are  the  everyday 
battle  orders.  They  betoken  constant  struggle. 
The  Christian  who  knows  anything  of  Christ 
knows  how  very  real  this  inner  and  outer  conflict 
is — how  terribly  real  it  sometimes  is. 

Frequent  defeat  is  another  phase  of  Christian 


no  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

experience.  The  victories  are  not  always  on  the 
side  of  the  new  nature,  as  every  child  of  God  is 
painfully  aware.  They  might  be,  through  Christ, 
and  they  ought  to  be.  But  they  are  not.  While 
the  fire  of  some  old  passion  is  burning,  the  Devil 
pours  oil  on  the  flames.  When  the  old  longing 
for  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt  comes  back,  he  makes 
the  savory  dish  of  some  worldly  delight  smell 
exceeding  sweet.  He  prepares  so  covert  a  pit- 
fall for  our  unwary  feet  that  we  get  tripped  and 
hurt  even  where  we  walked  most  confidently. 
Ah,  who  that  has  ever  started  on  the  highway  of 
the  King  has  not  known  to  his  sorrow  these  dis- 
comfitures and  humiliations,  and  how  he  must 
needs  go  every  day — every  day — with  the  cry, 
"  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner !" 

Divine  chastening  is  still  another  phase  of 
Christian  experience.  The  Lord  loves  whom  He 
chastens ;  and  He  chastens  because  He  loves. 
The  chastening  is  the  sign  and  seal  of  love.  But 
the  chastening  hurts.  No  affliction  for  the  pres- 
ent seemeth  to  be  joyous,  but  grievous.  God 
allows  it  for  discipline.  Sanctified  afflictions  are 
spiritual  promotions.  Fiery  trials  make  golden 
Christians.  Affliction  would  not  trouble  a  child 
of  God  if  he  but  knew  God's  reason  for  sending 
it.     But   he    does    not    know   the   reason.     And 


THE  INESCAPABLE  CONCLUSION  iii 

meanwhile  the  furnace  is  hot  and  the  fire  burns. 
It  costs  the  Christian  something — this  dross-con- 
suming, gold-refining  process. 

"  God  comes  and  lays  the  heart  all  heated 
On  the  hard  anvil,  minded  so 
Into  His  own  fair  shape  to  beat  it, 

With  His  great  hammer,  blow  on  blow." 

Surely,  surely,  the  righteous  is  saved  with  diffi- 
culty. He  is  saved ;  this  is  made  unmistakable 
by  God's  almighty  and  redeeming  grace ;  but 
through  what  temptations,  out  of  what  pitfalls, 
back  from  what  wanderings,  in  spite  of  what 
weaknesses,  and  after  what  shamefulness  of  doubt, 
and  sinfulness  of  indulgence,  and  humiliation  of 
defeat ! 

It  is  the  old  story.  It  has  always  been  so  down 
through  the  centuries.  Struggle,  defeat,  chasten- 
ing— struggle,  defeat,  chastening.  Not  these  alone, 
but  these  right  on  through,  till  the  battling  and 
suffering  saint  is  called  home.  And  because  of 
the  deceitfulness  of  the  old  nature,  the  weakness 
of  the  new  nature,  and  the  power,  the  craft,  and 
the  malignity  of  the  Devil.  You  who  fear  God 
and  try  to  keep  His  commandments,  who  believe 
in  Christ  and  try  to  fashion  your  lives  like  His,  I 
appeal  to  your  own  heart's  record,  and  if  I  could 


112  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

copy  it  here  this  day,  would  it  not  testify  to  con- 
flicts, weaknesses,  backshdings,  repentances,  for- 
givenesses, repeated  so  often  that  you  have  come 
to  marvel  more  at  the  patience  than  at  the  king- 
dom of  Jesus  Christ  ?  And  you  have  wondered 
and  wondered  how  He  could  ever  again  patiently 
and  forgivingly  hear  your  old,  old  story  of  sin 
and  sorrow. 

If  this,  then,  be  the  way  of  all  the  righteous, 
if  they  are  saved  with  difficulty,  where  shall  the 
ungodly  and  sinner  appear  ?  How  can  it  be  pos- 
sible that  it  is  to  be  all  the  same  on  the  other 
side  for  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  the  godly 
and  the  ungodly,  if  the  road  there  is  made  so  hard 
for  the  righteous  ?     It  is  impossible. 

For  otherwise,  these  four  following  absurdities 
and  contradictions  are  true  : — 

I.  God  makes  the  way  to  heaven  hard  for  the 
righteous  and  easy  for  the  wicked. 

We  have  seen  how  the  Christian  life  is  a  battle, 
not  a  hymn ;  a  struggle,  not  a  rest.  "  Sure  I 
must  fight  if  I  would  win,"  is  the  Christian's  daily 
song.  He  has  deep  joys,  but  they  are  from  the 
swing  of  deep  sorrows.  He  climbs  glorious 
heights  and  gets  beatific  visions  along  his  wilder- 
ness way,  but  he  must  needs  pass  through  valleys 
of  humiliation  and  up  the  rugged  steeps  of  toil  to 


THE  INESCAPABLE  CONCLUSION  113 

reach  them.  And  even  these  sunny  mountain 
tops  are  swept  by  fierce  storms  that  threaten  to 
undo  him,  that  make  it  seem  as  if  Satan  would 
blast  the  eyes  that  had  just  seen  "the  coming 
of  the  glory  of  the  Lord,"  by  letting  loose  upon 
them  all  hell's  rage. 

Whereas,  the  ungodly  are  not  so.  They  take 
their  ease.  They  are  not  at  cross-purposes  with 
themselves ;  their  wills  are  not  athwart  their 
desires.  They  are  in  this  world  to  get  the  most 
out  of  it,  and  let  the  next  world  take  care  of 
itself  They  are  not  in  trouble  as  Christians, 
neither  are  they  plagued  like  Christians.  Away 
back  in  the  centuries,  the  Psalmist  of  Israel  was 
perplexed  about  this.  He  saw  the  eyes  of  the 
wicked  stand  out  with  fatness,  and  that  they  had 
more  than  heart  could  wish.  And  he  was  trou- 
bled until  he  went  into  the  sanctuary  of  God  and 
considered  their  latter  end,  and  how  at  the  last 
destruction  came  upon  them.  That  righted  things. 
That  made  the  balances  of  God  even.  But  sup- 
pose their  latter  end  is  just  like  that  of  the  right- 
eous. Then  it  comes  to  pass  that  the  godly 
are  saved  with  difficulty  and  the  ungodly  are 
saved  without  difficulty,  that  the  godly  must 
"  fight  to  win  the  prize  and  sail  through  bloody 
seas,"  while  the  ungodly  are  "  carried  to  the  skies 


114  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

on  flowery  beds  of  ease."  And  this  is  so  flat  an 
absurdity  as  to  be  beyond  the  possibiHty  of 
rational  belief. 

11.  This  further  absurdity  follows  :  "  Let  us  eat 
and  drink  "  is  better  pliilosopJiy  than  "  Deny  thy- 
self T  Paul  uses  this  very  argument  in  his  great 
chapter  on  the  resurrection.  If  there  be  no  resur- 
rection and  no  immortality,  preaching  is  vain, 
faith  is  vain,  self-denial  is  vain.  What  is  the  use 
of  self-denial  if  we  all  land  at  last  in  the  blank 
of  everlasting  silence  ?  Why  do  we  stand  in 
jeopardy  every  hour?  reasons  the  apostle.  If, 
after  the  manner  of  men,  I  fought  with  beasts  at 
Ephesus,  what  doth  it  profit  me  ?  If  the  dead  are 
not  raised,  if  death  ends  all,  let  us  eat  and  drink, 
for  to-morrow  we  die. 

So  I  reason,  if  salvation  is  alike  to  the  godly 
and  the  ungodly,  what  boots  it  that  the  righteous 
should  be  at  such  pains  in  a  life-long  struggle  to 
attain  their  end,  when  the  unrighteous  are  to 
come  in  among  them  at  last  without  a  single 
battle!  Just  as  it  would  be  difficult  to  prove  we 
ought  to  live  like  angels  if  we  are  to  die  like 
brutes,  so  it  would  be  difficult  to  prove  we  ought 
to  be  fighting  beasts  in  the  desert  instead  of  eat- 
ing and  drinking  in  the  palace,  if  the  path  of  self- 
denial  and  the  path  of  self-indulgence  are  equally 


THE  INESCAPABLE  CONCLUSION  115 

sure  ways  to  heaven,  and  we  get  there  at  last  by 
either  road. 

III.  But  we  are  faced  with  another  absurdity 
on  this  strange  hypothesis :  A  beautifying  trust  is 
false  ajid  a  railing  unbelief  is  true. 

Say  what  men  may  about  the  creduhty  of  the 
Christian  beHever  and  the  childishness  of  his  be- 
hef,  there  is  something  very  beautiful  about  it,  and 
something  wonderful  in  its  transforming  power. 
Implicit,  confiding  trust  of  heart  in  heart  we  hold 
in  dear  regard,  and  count  it  the  heavenliest  thing 
of  earth.  Distrust  in  the  home  makes  a  hell  of 
it.  Distrust  in  business  makes  a  wreck  of  it. 
Distrust  in  government  makes  a  mob  of  it.  Dis- 
trust in  God  makes  a  liar  of  Him.  Trust  anti- 
dotes all  this — makes  home  a  heaven,  business 
possible  and  profitable,  government  orderly  and 
secure,  and  God  a  Father. 

Now  mark  the  beautifying  trust  of  a  child  of 
God.  It  is  the  creature  taking  his  Creator  at  His 
word ;  the  sinner  taking  the  Saviour  at  His  word. 
God  says,  "  If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things 
are  possible  to  him  that  believeth."  The  sinner 
answers,  "  Lord,  I  believe;  help  Thou  mine  unbe- 
lief" From  that  time  on  a  new  relation  is  estab- 
lished— the  relation  of  affection  and  sonship.  The 
man  begins  to  walk  by  faith.     He  trusts   God, 


Il6  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

He  learns  submission.  He  grows  patient  under 
trial.  The  old  hardness  of  nature  gets  softened 
by  grace.  Passions  come  to  be  subdued.  Trials 
that  once  provoked  murmurings  and  repinings 
and  possibly  curses,  or  which,  at  the  best,  were 
only  borne  with  stoical  indifference,  are  now  ac- 
cepted with  a  sweet  and  Christlike  patience,  and 
even  taken  to  the  bosom  and  held  there  as  a  gift 
of  God.  When  a  blow  falls,  Trust  says,  "  Even 
so,  Father."  When  a  sepulchre  is  made  in  the 
heart's  garden,  Trust  takes  Christ  into  the  sepul- 
chre, and  it  becomes  the  dearest  spot  in  the  gar- 
den, sacred  to  the  beloved  dead  and  to  Jesus. 
When  in  the  presence  of  "  a  frowning  providence," 
Trust  sees  behind  it  "  a  smiling  face."  When  sit- 
ting down  at  a  barren  board.  Trust  says,  "  My 
Lord  can  feed  me  with  hunger,  and  make  me  fat 
with  wants  and  desertion."  When  told  that  lions 
are  in  the  way.  Trust  answers,  "  God  can  stop  the 
mouths  of  lions,  and  He  has  promised  never  to 
leave  me — never  to  leave  me."  Trust  sings  the 
sweetest  songs  in  the  night,  gets  nearest  God 
under  the  cross,  climbs  mounts  of  sacrifice  as  if 
they  were  ascents  to  heaven,  and  goes  through 
death's  door  like  a  child  going  home. 

What    does    unbelief  do  ?     Unbelief  sneers  at 
God's  warnings  and  tramples  on  His  entreaties; 


THE  INESCAPABLE  CONCLUSION  117 

counts  Calvary  a  useless  tragedy  and  the  atone- 
ment a  butchery ;  rejects  Christ  and  murders 
mercy ;  makes  God  a  liar  instead  of  the  Devil ; 
climbs  up  to  heaven  some  other  way  than  by  the 
way  of  a  crucified  Redeemer,  and  sings  for  ever 
the  glories  of  its  own  righteousness  rather  than 
of  the  Lamb  that  was  slain. 

If  now  it  is  all  one  with  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked,  the  godly  and  the  ungodly,  when  they 
die,  what  becomes  of  this  beautifying  trust  and 
this  railing  unbelief?  The  trust  is  become  false, 
and  the  unbelief  is  become  true.  In  other  words, 
this  trust,  which  is  the  noblest  thing  in  thought 
and  life,  is  born  of  a  pitiful  delusion,  and  this  unbe- 
lief, which  empties  life  of  its  transcendent  meaning 
and  which  challenges  the  ways  of  the  Almighty, 
is  proved  to  be  the  child  of  wisdom  and  forecast. 
A  railing  unbelief  is  vindicated  and  a  beautifying 
trust  is  put  to  an  open  shame. 

IV.  But  still  another  absurdity  follows  on  this 
strange  hypothesis  of  things  happening  alike  to 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked  on  the  other  side — 
viz.,  The  cry  of  blasphemy  and  the  cry  for  mercy 
strike  ift  the  same  ear  and  get  no  proper  answer. 

If  Job  had  cursed  God  and  died,  it  would  have 
been  as  well  with  him  as  to  say,  "  Though  He 
slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him."     Job  was  saved 


n8  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

with  difficulty  as  a  righteous  man  who  feared  God 
and  eschewed  evil.  If  he  had  only  been  an  un- 
godly man  he  might  have  been  saved  without  any 
difficulty.  One  of  the  blessed  things  about  God 
is  that  He  hears  prayer.  But  if  He  hears  any 
kind  of  prayer,  and  one  cry  is  just  the  same  to 
Him  as  another  cry,  and  "  God,  I  thank  Thee, 
that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are "  gets  the  same 
answer  as  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner,"  then 
that  God  hears  prayer  is  not  a  blessed  thing  at  all. 
It  were  better  that  He  were  deaf  to  any  cry  than 
that  He  make  no  distinction  between  a  cry  of 
blasphemy  and  a  cry  for  mercy. 

Surely  He  does  make  a  distinction.  These 
absurdities  and  contradictions  cannot  be  true.  If 
they  are  true,  if  God  makes  the  way  to  heaven 
hard  for  the  righteous  and  easy  for  the  wicked, 
and  if  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink  "  is  better  philosophy 
than  "  Deny  thyself,"  and  if  a  beautifying  trust  is 
false  and  a  railing  unbelief  is  true,  and  if  God 
leans  with  equal  favor  to  the  cry  of  blasphemy 
and  the  cry  for  mercy,  then  up  is  down,  and  in  is 
out,  and  white  is  black,  and  heaven  is  hell,  and 
God  is  Devil ! 

But  if  these  things  and  things  like  them  are 
impossible,  being  at  war  with  our  primary  beliefs 
and  self-contradictory,  then  there  is  none  other 


THE  INESCAPABLE  CONCLUSION  119 

name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby 
we  can  be  saved  but  the  name  of  Christ ;  then  it  is 
the  wildest  delusion  to  think  there  will  be  no  final 
difference  between  him  that  serveth  God  and  him 
that  serveth  Him  not ;  then  the  question  of  the 
text  has  only  one  answer :  If  the  righteous  are 
saved  with  difficulty,  what  possibility  of  salvation 
is  there  for  the  ungodly  ? 


VI 
THE   INTERMEDIATE   STATE 


VI 

THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE 

"  For  we  know  that  if  the  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle  be 
dissolved,  we  have  a  building  from  God,  a  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." — 2  Cor.  v.  I. 

What  do  we  know  of  the  life  beyond  the 
grave  ?  What  is  the  state  of  the  soul  after  death  ? 
Where  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  ?  How 
are  they  conditioned  who  sleep  in  Jesus  ?  Is  there 
an  intermediate  state  ?  a  paradise,  as  distinct  from 
heaven?  or  a  purgatory,  as  distinct  from  hell?  or 
a  shadowy  region,  neither  the  one  nor  the  other, 
where  all  souls  go  and  wait  for  the  final  judg- 
ment ?  Is  the  state  after  death  one  of  uncon- 
sciousness ?  or  of  sleep  ?  or  of  filmy,  shadowy, 
evanescent,  and  half-conscious  life  ?  or  of  wakeful 
and  active  joy  and  of  intelligent  and  holy  com- 
panionship ?  These  are  questions  that  have  been 
of  absorbing  interest  to  men  in  all  ages.  They 
often  recur  to  us  in  the  presence  of  death.  They 
assume  an  intense  and  personal  consequence  when 
we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  our  own  dying 
or  with  the  dying  of  those  near  and  dear  to  us. 

123 


124  FRO^I  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

Does  the  word  of  God  answer  these  questions  ? 
Does  the  apostle  in  the  text  and  in  its  nexus  throw 
any  hght  upon  them  ?     Let  us  see. 

"  For  we  know  that  if  the  earthly  house  of  our 
tabernacle  be  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  from 
God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens."  It  is  agreed  by  all  that  the  apostle 
here  refers  to  death — the  death  of  the  body.  He 
calls  the  earthly  house — the  material  body — a 
tabernacle — i.  e.,  a  frail  temporary  abode  as 
opposed  to  a  structure  permanent  and  abiding. 
If  by  any  means  this  were  dissolved,  its  compo- 
nent parts  separated  either  by  violence  or  decay, 
so  that  the  soul  could  no  longer  tenant  it,  we 
know,  he  says,  we  know  "  we  have  a  building  from 
God."  Now  what  is  this  building  ?  There  are 
but  three  answers  to  the  question.  It  is  either  an 
intermediate  body  or  place,  the  resurrection  body, 
or  heaven  itself 

It  clearly  cannot  be  an  intermediate  body  or 
place,  for  it  is  "  eternal."  It  is  so  declared  to  be 
by  the  apostle  in  this  very  passage.  Now  that 
which  is  intermediate,  which  comes  between  what 
precedes  and  what  follows  after,  serving  a  tempo- 
rary purpose,  tiding  a  naked  soul  over  a  certain 
period  and  then  being  laid  aside,  cannot  be  eternal. 
No  such  term  would  be  applicable  to  a  body  spe- 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  125 

daily  fitted  for  the  intermediate  state.  The  same 
is  true  of  a  place,  fitted  up  of  God  as  a  kind  of 
passageway  or  anteroom,  where  holy  souls  wait 
till  the  morning  of  the  resurrection.  Paul  speaks 
of  no  such  place,  for  that  would  be  temporary — 
serving  a  present  purpose,  lasting  only  through 
time — while  he  distinctly  declares  that  this  build- 
ing from  God,  which  we  have  as  a  substitute  for 
our  earthly  house,  is  eternal.  It  cannot,  there- 
fore, be  an  intermediate  body  or  place. 

Is  this  body  from  God,  to  which  the  apostle 
refers,  the  resurrection  body  ?  We  think  not,  and 
for  the  following  reasons  : — 

The  resurrection  is  a  future  event,  everywhere 
so  represented  in  the  word  of  God.  It  is  to  be 
at  the  final  consummation  of  affairs  and  just  prior 
to  the  great  judgment;  at  the  end  of  the  world, 
the  crisis  period ;  at  the  second  coming  of  the 
Lord  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  Arch- 
angel and  with  the  trump  of  God.  Jesus  Him- 
self said  on  one  occasion,  "  The  hour  cometh, 
in  which  all  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear 
His  voice,  and  shall  come  forth ;  they  that  have 
done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life ;  and  they 
that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  judg- 
ment." ^  Again,  He  said,  "  It  is  the  will  of  the 
^  John  V.  28,  29. 


126  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

Father  that  every  one  that  beheveth  on  the  Son 
may  have  everlasting  hfe,  and  I  will  raise  him  up 
at  the  last  day."^  Martha  says  of  her  brother 
Lazarus,  "  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the 
resurrection  at  the  last  day."^  And  Paul,  speak- 
ing of  those  who  shall  be  alive  at  the  second 
coming  of  the  Lord,  says  that  they  shall  not 
anticipate  those  who  are  in  their  graves,  but  the 
Lord  descending  from  heaven,  the  dead  in  Christ 
shall  rise  first — then  those  which  are  alive  and 
remain  "  shall  be  caught  up  together  with  them  in 
the  clouds  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air."^  These 
passages  put  it  beyond  all  question  that  the  resur- 
rection body  will  be  taken  simultaneously  by  all 
the  dead  in  Christ  at  the  end  of  the  world,  at  the 
last  day,  and  not  when  each  individual  believer 
dies.  Yet  the  apostle  is  speaking  of  something 
each  individual  believer  will  have  when  he  dies. 
We  know  that  if  our  earthly  house  perish,  if  we 
die — die  now,  die  at  any  time  through  the  pres- 
sure of  trials  and  worn  out  by  afflictions,  or  if 
from  any  cause  whatever  these  bodies  fail — still 
we  have  a  building  from  God ;  a  house  in  heaven. 
The  apostle  is  after  a  present  consolation  in  view 
of  a  present  loss.  In  prospect  of  death,  provided 
this  frail  and  temporary  house  should  perish, 
^  John  vi.  40.  ^  John  xi.  24.  '  I  Thes.  iv.  17. 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  127 

what  was  he  assured  of  as  an  immediate  conse- 
quence and  an  occasion  of  comfort  and  joy,  and 
that  would  furnish  ground  for  triumphing  in 
afflictions  ?  Was  it  that  after  a  long  and  indefi- 
nite period,  either  of  unconsciousness  or  anything 
else,  he  should  have  a  resurrection  body?  By 
no  means.  But  that  the  perishing  of  his  frail 
earthly  tenement  would  be  no  loss  to  him,  in  his 
assumption  at  once  of  another  and  unspeakably 
better  habitation.  His  eye  is  on  an  investiture  at 
death — not  ages  beyond  death.  Something  in 
heaven,  heavenly,  not  made  with  hands,  a  build- 
ing of  God  and  eternal.  The  whole  passage 
presses  us  to  this  conclusion  and  fortifies  it. 

A  second  reason  why  we  judge  this  "building 
from  God  "  is  not  the  resurrection  body  is  this  : 
Paul  speaks,  in  close  connection,  of  being  "absent 
from  the  body."  "  Absent  from  the  body  "  clearly 
does  not  mean  and  cannot  mean  present  with  the 
body.  It  means  present  with  the  Lord,  and  pres- 
ent in  a  distinctly  different  sense  from  that  in 
which  He  is  now  present.  For  it  is  a  presence 
that  is  secured  by  death — by  parting  with  the 
body — a  loss  indeed,  but  for  which  a  greater  gain 
is  substituted ;  as  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ 
is  far  better  than  to  stay  in  the  body  and  have 
Christ  as  we  have  Him  now. 


128  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

A  third  reason  for  not  regarding  "  the  building 
of  God "  as  the  resurrection  body  is  that  Paul 
speaks  of  it  as  "  in  heaven,"  as  now  in  heaven. 
We  have  in  heaven  this  building,  so  that  if  we 
should  die  we  would  enter  upon  it.  It  waits  our 
arrival.  Places  there  are,  buildings  of  God,  not 
made  with  hands,  ready  for  all  that  die  in  the 
Lord.  We  know,  says  the  apostle — looking  away 
to  the  heavenly  city — we  know  if  we  die  we  have 
a  mansion  in  heaven.  Now  the  resurrection  body 
is  not  in  heaven  and  will  never  be  there  until  the 
Lord  gives  a  body  to  each  saint  of  His,  and  they 
enter  the  gates  of  the  city  with  songs  most  jubi- 
lant, to  go  out  no  more  for  ever.  Meanwhile, 
just  as,  if  we  die,  we  know  we  have  a  Saviour  in 
heaven ;  just  so,  if  we  die,  we  know  we  have  a 
house  in  heaven.  But  language  like  this  has  no 
application  to  our  resurrection  body. 

To  what  then  is  it  applicable  ?  What  is  this 
building  from  God,  eternal  in  the  heavens,  of 
whose  assured  possession  Paul  had  not  a  doubt  ? 
What  else  but  heaven  itself!  Not  heaven  as  a 
state  or  condition — nor  yet  as  a  place,  in  the  wide 
sense  of  the  word,  comprehensive  of  the  entire 
circuit  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  but  as  a  home  pre- 
pared for  us  in  the  royal  palace — a  dwelling-place 
in  our  Father's  house.     This  answers  all  the  con- 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE 


129 


ditions  of  the  passage,  meets  every  difficulty,  and 
is  a  source  of  transporting  joy.  It  is  a  great 
thing  to  know.  It  goes  to  the  profoundest  depths 
of  our  being  as  a  consohng  and  satisfying  truth. 
It  meets  and  answers  the  questionings  of  our 
doubt  and  unrest  as  we  stand  by  the  shrouded 
dead  and  the  open  grave,  this  precious  doctrine 
that  the  soul  of  the  believer  in  Jesus  does  not 
cease  to  exist  at  death,  nor,  what  is  much  the 
same  thing,  sink  into  a  deep  unconsciousness  or 
sleep,  nor  stay  in  a  shadowy,  dreamy  realm,  house- 
less and  homeless,  waiting  for  the  resurrection, 
nor  wander  lost  in  the  infinite  immensity;  but  the 
soul  goes  straight  to  the  heavenly  home,  built 
of  God,  and  prepared  for  the  ransomed  by  the 
adorning  and  beautifying  touch  of  the  ransoming 
Lord,  who  has  gone  before  for  the  very  purpose. 
"  The  souls  of  believers  are  at  their  death  made 
perfect  in  holiness,  and  do  immediately  pass  into 
glory;  and  their  bodies,  being  still  united  to  Christ, 
do  rest  in  their  graves  till  the  resurrection,"  ^ 

The  proof  of  this  is  drawn  from  the  following 
considerations : — 

(i)  Such  a  heavenly  house  for  the  soul  meets 
all  the  conditions  of  the  passage  and  its  context. 
It  fully  answers  to  the  description,  and  nothing 
*  Q.  37.     Shorter  Catechism. 
9 


I30  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

else  does.  It  is  "  a  building  from  God,"  it  is 
"  eternal,"  it  is  "  in  heaven."  "  We  have  "  it  when 
we  leave  our  earthly  house.  It  is  a  construction 
of  the  divine  Architect,  and  with  it  human  hands 
have  had  nothing  to  do.  Once  entered  upon  by 
the  believer,  it  is  his  home  for  ever.  It  is  there 
now  in  heaven,  waiting  occupancy.  "  In  my 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions;  ...  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you,"  If  this  body  die — if  we 
leave  our  earthly  house — when  we  leave  it  we  are 
not  deprived  of  a  house.  We  have  the  heavenly 
house. 

(2)  It  is  to  be  entered  upon  at  death.  This 
point  has  already  had  attention.  Any  ordinary 
reader  of  the  passage  would  get  this  impression. 
The  preceding  context  demands  it.  Absent  from 
the  body,  present  with  the  Lord ;  that  seems  to 
make  it  imperative.  A  critical  exegesis  justifies 
the  popular  impression.  There  is  scarcely  a  point 
in  the  entire  Greek  text  that  makes  against  it. 
Just  one  word  in  the  original  and  in  the  translation 
is  in  apparent  conflict — the  word  "  clothed  upon," 
This  is  certainly  not  the  ordinary  way  in  which 
we  would  speak  of  entering  a  house.  But  it  must 
be  remembered  that  a  house  is  just  what  Paul  is 
speaking  of  He  speaks  of  this  body  as  a  house, 
frail  and  perishing.      And  he  says,  "  Not  that  we 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  131 

would  be  unclothed  of  this  house,  but  clothed 
upon  with  our  heavenly  house";  in  other  words, 
not  that  we  would  lay  aside  our  earthly  taber- 
nacle, but  enter  our  heavenly  home. 

(3)  The  descriptive  language  is  in  entire  accord 
with  other  Scriptural  representations  of  heaven. 
Jesus  speaks  of  it  as  a  place  of  everlasting  habita- 
tions. As  a  house  of  many  mansions.  Paul 
speaks  of  it  elsewhere  as  a  greater  and  more  per- 
fect tabernacle,  not  made  with  hands ;  as  a  city 
which  hath  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker 
is  God.  John  calls  it  a  great  city  with  walls  and 
gates.  Apply  the  language  of  the  text  to  the 
resurrection  body  and  it  is  new  and  strange,  no- 
where else  thus  used  in  the  word  of  God.  Apply 
it  to  heaven  and  all  readers  of  God's  word  are  at 
once  struck  with  the  naturalness  of  it. 

(4)  The  proof  is  elsewhere  furnished  that  the 
souls  of  believers  do  enter  at  death  upon  this 
heavenly  inheritance.  Paul  himself  testifies  as 
follows :  "  Knowing  that,  whilst  we  are  at  home 
in  the  body,  we  are  absent  from  the  Lord ;  we  are 
....  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body, 
and  to  be  at  home  with  the  Lord."  The  apostle 
knew  that  his  death  would  usher  him  at  once  into 
the  presence  of  Jesus,  and  he  says  so.  Now  where 
is  Jesus?  In  purgatory?   In  hades?   In  the  grave? 


132  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

Asleep  ?  In  unconsciousness  ?  In  a  sort  of  lower 
Paradise  ?  In  a  shadowy  realm  of  half-conscious 
life  ?  Let  us  see.  "  It  came  to  pass,  while  He 
blessed  them,  He  was  parted  from  them,  and  car- 
ried up  into  heaven."  "  For  Christ  is  not  entered 
into  the  holy  places  made  with  hands,  .  ,  .  but 
into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  in  the  presence  of 
God  for  us."  "  Seeing  then  that  we  have  a  great 
High  Priest,  that  has  passed  into  the  heavens,  .  .  . 
let  us  hold  fast  our  profession."  "  After  He  had 
offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins  for  ever,"  He  "sat 
down  at  the  right  hand  of  God."  And  whom  saw 
the  Seer  of  Patmos,  as  the  heavens  were  opened 
to  his  rapt  vision  ?  He  saw  Jesus  the  Lamb  of 
God,  that  had  been  slain,  worshiped  there  by 
adoring  hosts,  singing  their  new  song,  and  say- 
ing, "  Thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to 
God  by  Thy  blood."  Jesus  is  in  heaven ;  in 
the  highest  heaven,  at  the  right  hand  of  God. 
To  be  present  with  Jesus  is  to  be  in  heaven,  is  to 
be  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  Hence,  absent  from 
the  body  means  at  home  with  the  Lord.  Did  this 
passage  stand  alone,  therefore,  it  would  prove 
that  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  are  at  once 
admitted  to  heaven.  But  it  has  ample  corrobo- 
ration. "  For  to  me,  ...  to  die  is  gain,"  says 
the  apostle.     What  gain?     Why,  this.     That  to 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  133 

depart  and  be  with  Christ  is  far  better.  The  first 
mart}-r,  how  did  he  die  ?  What  did  he  see  and 
what  did  he  expect  in  the  presence  of  that  mad 
mob  bent  upon  his  death  ?  "  Behold,  I  see  the 
heavens  opened,  and  the  Son  of  man  standing  on 
the  right  hand  of  God."  "  And  they  stoned 
Stephen,  caHing  upon  God,  and  saying,  Lord 
Jesus,  receive  my  spirit."  A  voice  comes  from 
Calvary,  saying,  "  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  ]\Ie 
in  Paradise."  The  Mount  of  Transfiguration  wit- 
nesses to  the  communion  of  the  sainted  dead  with 
Jesus.  And  already  they  sing  a  song  in  heaven 
of  redemption  by  blood.  The  belov^ed  disciple 
caught  the  notes  of  it.  Who  sing  it  there,  who 
can  sing  it,  but  the  already  saved,  the  dead  that 
have  died  in  the  Lord,  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect?  Thus  through  all  the  Scriptures, 
like  warp  and  woof,  runs  the  corroborative  proof 
of  an  immediate  entrance,  not  into  some  inter- 
mediate place,  but  into  heaven,  of  those  who  fall 
asleep  in  Jesus,  And  hence  we  are  confirmed  in 
the  position  that  the  building  from  God  is  none 
other  than  the  heavenly  home  we  are  to  have  at 
once  when  this  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle 
shall  be  dissolved. 

Let  us  consider  briefly  the  objections  that  are 
raised  to  this  view.     It  is  said : — 


134  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

(i)  "  Paul  is  speaking  of  the  body — and  a  body 
is  demanded  in  contrast.  As  the  earthly  house  is 
a  body,  the  heavenly  house  must  be  a  body  also." 
But  the  body,  as  such,  is  not  the  idea  distinctly 
brought  out  at  all.  It  is  the  body  as  a  residence 
or  dwelling-place — a  home  or  house.  The  com- 
parison or  contrast  is  clearly  not  between  one 
body  and  another,  but  one  house  and  another. 
If  this  house  fail  us  we  have  another  and  a  better 
one.  If  this  earthly  tabernacle  perish  we  have  a 
building  from  God. 

(2)  It  is  held  that  a  human  being  cannot  exist 
as  pure  spirit ;  can  neither  perceive  nor  act  unless 
in  connection  with  a  body ;  that  a  vehicle  or  form 
is  essential.  Corporeal  organization  is  the  neces- 
sary condition  of  personality.  Hence  the  theories 
of  the  soul's  sleep,  the  soul's  unconsciousness,  the 
soul's  dreamy,  shadowy  state  of  existence,  the 
soul's  assumption  of  something  essential  to  perfect 
consciousness  of  personality  and  identity  between 
death  and  the  resurrection.  But — to  say  nothing 
of  the  direct  antagonism  of  much  of  this  to  the 
word  of  God,  Scripture  upon  Scripture  rising  up 
in  testimony  against  it — how  do  we  know  that 
spirit  cannot  act  without  form ;  that  corporeity,  a 
material  body,  is  essential  to  conscious  person- 
ality ?     Where  is  the  proof  of  it  ?     Who  has  been 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  135 

experimenting  beyond  the  grave  to  see  ?  Who 
has  disrobed  himself — gotten  out  of  his  earthly- 
house — and  tested  this  question ?  "I  think,  there- 
fore I  am,"  is  both  a  piece  of  logic  and  a  state  of 
consciousness  with  which  the  body  has  nothing 
to  do.  Have  not  human  spirits  signaled  each 
other  directly,  spirit  to  spirit,  notwithstanding 
these  walls  of  sense,  and  seemingly  without  their 
intervention  ?  Have  not  souls  sometimes  met 
and  touched  each  other,  unconscious  of  instru- 
mentality in  the  meeting?  Do  we  not  now  and 
then  have  flashed  to  us,  in  rapport  with  some 
kindred  spirit,  the  possibility  of  spiritual  fellow- 
ship and  the  joy  of  it,  without  the  limitation  of  a 
bodily  organization  ?  Nay,  is  not  God  a  spirit  ? 
Is  not  the  Holy  Ghost  a  spirit,  personal  and 
active,  yet  without  body  or  form,  contradicting 
this  theory  by  certifying  to  us  of  His  presence 
and  power  in  the  resurrection  He  carries  on  within 
us,  in  the  re-creation  of  our  souls  ?  He  regen- 
erates us.  He  dwells  in  us.  He  communes  with 
us.  I  know  the  truth  is  an  instrumentality. 
But  cannot  a  spirit  know  the  truth  without  a  body 
to  help  grasp  it?  And  does  there  not  come  a 
time  in  the  process  of  this  new  birth  when  the  all- 
creating  breath  of  God  touches  and  changes  the 
soul  without  even  truth's  intervention  ?     And  all 


136  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

along  the  disciple's  way  to  glory  is  not  the  Be- 
loved manifesting  Himself  directly  and  imme- 
diately to  his  innermost  spirit  through  love's  holy 
mystery?  Ah,  these  reasonings  of  vain  philos- 
ophy are  not  true!  All  that  we  know  about  the 
matter  leans  the  other  way. 

(3)  But,  it  is  said,  the  Scriptures  speak  of  the 
dead  as  asleep  and  as  in  the  grave,  where  there  is 
neither  wisdom  nor  knowledge  nor  device.  True. 
Sleep  is  a  figurative  term  for  death — fitly  repre- 
sents it.  When  asleep  we  are  lost  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  what  is  going  on  in  the  world ;  it  is 
as  if  we  were  dead  to  it.  And  hence  the  figure, 
beautiful  and  appropriate.  But  a  figure  must  not 
be  pressed  too  far.  We  cannot  take  a  figure, 
even  a  Bible  figure,  and  urge  its  acceptance,  in  all 
its  sweep  and  compass  and  in  literal  exactness  of 
detail,  when  it  runs  counter  to  clear  and  positive 
statements  of  the  word  of  God.  When  they 
stoned  Stephen  to  death,  it  is  said  "he  fell  asleep." 
Remembering  that  look  of  his  into  heaven  and 
those  words  of  his  that  broke  on  the  air,  "  Lord 
Jesus,  receive  my  spirit,"  is  it  not  trifling  with 
speech  to  make  anything  else  of  the  statement, 
"  he  fell  asleep,"  than  a  simple  record  that  he 
died  ?  It  is  written,  "  them  also  which  sleep  in 
Jesus  will  God  bring  with  Him  " ;  but  the  manifest 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  137 

reference  is  to  the  resurrection  of  the  bodies  of  the 
saints.  They  sleep  in  the  grave ;  that  is,  they  he 
there  as  if  they  were  asleep,  waiting  the  coming 
of  the  Lord  with  ten  thousand  of  His  saints — the 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect — come  to  shout 
their  final  shout  of  victory  over  the  grave  as  they 
shall  robe  themselves  in  the  bodies  made  like 
unto  the  glorious  body  of  the  Son  of  God. 
Moreover,  the  idea  of  sleep  is  wholly  incompati- 
ble with  words  like  the  following :  "  Earnestly 
desiring  to  be  clothed  upon  "  ;  "  absent  from  the 
body,  and  to  be  at  home  with  the  Lord " ;  "  to 
depart, and  to  be  with  Christ;  which  is  far  better"; 
"  to-day  shalt  thou  be  with  Me  in  paradise."  This 
is  the  Scriptural  phraseology;  and  it  is  not  the 
language  men  use  when  they  talk  of  going  into  a 
state  of  sleep. 

(4)  A  fourth  objection  to  regarding  this  build- 
ing of  God  as  heaven  itself,  to  be  entered  upon  at 
death,  is  the  fact  of  a  general  judgment.  The 
question  is  raised,  do  not  the  Scriptures  declare 
that  God  hath  appointed  a  day  in  which  He  will 
judge  the  world  in  righteousness  ?  That  when 
the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  His  glory  before 
Him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations,  and  He  shall 
separate  them  one  from  the  other  ?  And  in  pro- 
phetic vision  were  not  the  dead,  small  and  great. 


138  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

seen  standing  before  God,  the  sea  having  given 
up  the  dead  which  were  in  it,  and  death  and  hell 
delivered  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them,  that 
they  all  might  be  judged?  Yes,  the  Scriptures 
do  thus  declare ;  the  Bible  does  point  to  a  last 
great  day — a  judgment  day.  But  how  is  this,  it 
is  asked,  if  awards  are  made  at  death;  if  judg- 
ment takes  place  when  we  die ;  if  we  pass  at  once 
to  a  state  fixed,  eternal,  either  of  blessedness  or 
condemnation  ?  A  partial  answer  to  this  question 
may  be  found  in  the  very  word — ^judgment.  As 
it  comes  to  us  now  it  has  lost  the  primary  and 
original  meaning.  We  are  used  to  only  one  con- 
struction of  it — to  render  decision,  whether  judi- 
cial or  otherwise.  But  this  is  not  its  root  signifi- 
cation. The  Greek  word  is  xpiacr:,  of  which  our 
word  "  crisis  "  is  a  mere  transliteration,  meaning 
the  decisive  hour  in  any  important  affair — the 
critical  turning-point.  The  primary  meaning  of 
the  word  in  the  original  is  separation,  from  the 
verb  meaning  first  and  chiefly,  to  separate,  divide, 
distinguish,  then  to  decide,  determine,  judge,  and 
then,  in  a  judicial  sense,  to  sit  in  judgment,  to  put 
on  trial.  Hence  you  see,  in  the  radical  and  vital, 
and  therefore  the  deepest  sense  of  the  word, 
judgment  takes  place  at  death,  for  judgment  is 
"  separation."     This  is  in  accord  with  the  Scrip- 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  139 

tural  saying,  "  It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to 
die,  but  after  this  the  judgment."  Right  after 
death  comes  judgment,  judgment  is  going  on, 
judgment  is  now,  whenever  a  man  dies.  It  is  the 
"  crisis,"  the  turning-point,  the  decisive  hour — 
and  it  means  separation,  quick,  sharp,  unavoid- 
able, eternal.  But  then  there  is  another  judg- 
ment, for  there  is  a  secondary  meaning  to  the 
word — a  judgment  judicial,  declarative — a  last 
great  day,  when  public  decision  shall  be  made 
and  awards  rendered.  Why  this  ?  We  may  not 
know  all  the  reasons  of  it,  for  they  are  not 
revealed.  But  we  can  conceive  how  thus  there 
would  be  a  public  vindication  of  the  ways  of  God 
to  man — how  thus  every  mouth  might  be  stopped 
— for  then,  and  not  till  then,  down  the  avenues 
of  time,  at  the  end  of  the  world,  could  be  knoAvn 
and  could  be  revealed  all  the  influence  of  a  life 
here  lived,  all  the  consequences  of  deeds  done 
and  words  spoken  as  they  went  out  from  men  to 
commence  and  continue  their  work  of  evil  or  of 
good.  For  these  do  not  end  when  our  life  ends, 
when  we  die ;  they  end  only  with  the  world  and 
time. 

We  are  thus  left  securely  with  the  truth  of  the 
text.  We  know,  if  we  be  truly  Christ's  we  know, 
that  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were 


I40  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

dissolved  we  are  not  houseless  and  homeless — 
we  do  not  stay  in  the  realm  of  shadows,  we  do 
not  sleep  to  be  waked  only  cycles  of  time  hence 
and  when  time  shall  be  no  more,  we  do  not  sink 
into  unconsciousness  for  interminable  ages  and, 
for  all  purposes  of  life,  perish  like  the  brute.  No 
such  cold,  dark,  dismal,  unwelcome,  and  soul- 
dissatisfying  truth  mocks  us  with  its  proffer  of 
solace  and  soothing  when  we  stand  by  our  loved 
dead  or  when  we  ourselves  go  down  into  the 
valley.  These  are  apples  of  Sodom  that  change 
to  ashes  on  our  lips.  No.  When  we  die,  if  we 
die  in  the  Lord,  we  have  a  building  of  God.  We 
make  our  way  straight  to  yonder  realms  of  joy. 
No  grave  shall  hold  our  freed  spirits.  No  sleep 
shall  clasp  us  in  its  long  embrace.  No  purgato- 
rial fires  shall  leap  about  our  souls  to  purify  them. 
No  dim  and  filmy  consciousness  shall  be  substi- 
tuted for  our  present  life  with  God.  It  were  not 
far  better  to  depart  if  this  were  so.  It  were  no  gain 
to  die  if  this  were  so.  No.  We  pass  immediately  into 
glory.  Being  made  sinless,  we  go  at  once  through 
the  gates.  And  as  soon  as  we  step  out  of  our 
earthly  house  we  enter  our  heavenly  house.  As 
soon  as  we  are  absent  from  the  body  we  are  at 
home  with  the  Lord.  Our  mansion  is  ready  for 
us.     Jesus  has  prepared  it  and  prepared  us  for  it; 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  141 

and  when  the  house  is  ready  we  step  in.  We,  in 
our  fond  desire  and  glad  expectation,  often  get 
rooms  ready  for  people  that  never  come.  When 
Christ  prepares  a  room  He  always  prepares  a 
guest  for  the  room.  Blessed  are  the  dead  that 
die  in  the  Lord. 

But  out  of  Him,  what  then?  After  death  the 
judgment.  And  judgment  is  the  decisive  hour, 
the  turning-point;  separation,  final,  irrevocable, 
eternal.  When  the  man  died  that  could  betray 
his  Lord  with  a  kiss,  coining  the  blood  of  the 
innocent  into  a  few  pieces  of  silver,  what  is  said 
of  him  ?  "  He  went  to  his  own  place."  What 
place  was  that  ?  The  grave  ?  Will  you  say 
where  Judas  is  now  ?  Is  he  nowhere  ?  Is  he 
asleep  ?  Is  he — of  whom  the  omniscient  Son  of 
God  said, "  it  had  been  good  for  that  man  if  he  had 
not  been  born  " — is  he  only  in  a  state  of  uncon- 
sciousness ?  The  rich  man  died  and  was  buried. 
Note  this,  his  body  was  buried.  And  in  hell  he 
lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torment.  Do  men  fall 
asleep  in  that  way  ?  I  know  this  is  a  parable,  but 
a  parable  means  something.  And  the  back- 
ground of  such  a  story  as  that  is  not  annihilation 
nor  sleep.  No.  The  righteous  when  they  die 
go   to   their  own  place — and  the  wicked  go  to 


142  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

theirs.     Judgment  is  separation,  the  turning-point, 
the  crisis. 

There  is,  therefore,  no  intermediate  place  for 
the  righteous  or  the  wicked.  But  there  is  an 
intermediate  state.  The  full  apocalypse  of  God 
is  not  yet  given.  Not  all  the  exceeding  glory  has 
yet  come  to  the  sons  of  God.  The  souls  of  the 
ransomed  are  round  about  the  throne.  They 
have  entered  into  the  joy  of  their  Lord.  Their 
spirits,  made  perfect  there,  bathe  in  the  God-light, 
and  go  on  heavenly  commissions,  and  hold  unin- 
terrupted blessed  converse  with  one  another  and 
with  the  Beloved,  flashing  each  to  each  their  sig- 
nals of  intelligence  and  their  high  thoughts  of 
truth  and  God  by  subtle  and  superior  modes  of 
which  we  now  have  only  hints  and  dreams. 
Theirs  is  a  sinless  state,  a  glorified  state,  a  state 
of  blessedness,  a  state  of  living,  personal,  active, 
exalted  consciousness,  high,  grand  and  holy,  as  it 
must  be,  to  be  with  Jesus  at  the  right  hand  of 
God ;  but  a  disembodied  state — disembodied  and 
therefore  intermediate.  Without  bodies  but  not 
without  heaven.  The  place  is  theirs  at  death  and 
will  be  theirs  for  ever ;  but  the  state  is  bodyless, 
and  therefore  coming  between  the  present  earthly 
state  where  souls  are  robed  with  the  natural 
body,   and   the   future   resurrection   state    where 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  143 

souls  are  robed  with  the  spiritual  body.  When 
that  morn  shall  break  on  this  world  of  graves, 
when  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  from  heaven 
with  a  vast  retinue  of  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect,  when  these  ransomed  souls  shall  take 
their  bodies  back  again,  changed  by  the  divine 
alchemy  of  the  resurrection,  from  corruption  to 
incorruption,  from  the  mortal  to  immortality; 
then,  and  not  till  then,  shall  the  grave  be  robbed 
of  its  spoils ;  then,  and  not  till  then,  shall  be  fully 
brought  to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written,  "  Death 
is  swallowed  up  in  victory." 


VII 

WHAT  SHALL  THE  RESURREC- 
TION  BODY   BE 


VII 

WHAT  SHALL  THE   RESURRECTION  BODY  BE 
"  With  what  manner  of  body  do  they  come  ?" — I  CoR.  xv.  35. 

Christ's  emptied  sepulchre  is  the  one  sure 
pledge  and  proof  of  the  final  resurrection  of  the 
dead.  But  those  who  believe  in  the  fact  are  often 
stirred  with  eager  thrills  of  curiosity  to  know 
with  what  body  the  dead  shall  rise. 

Speculation  is  easy  here,  and  as  without  profit 
as  it  is  without  difficulty.  All  that  we  may  cer- 
tainly know  about  the  matter  must  be  found  in 
Scripture  or,  "  by  good  and  necessary  conse- 
quence, be  deduced  from  Scripture."  Wishes 
are  not  arguments.  Speculations  are  not  facts. 
Analogies  are  not  certainties.  Is  there  some 
sure  word  of  God  for  our  feet  ?  It  must  be  that 
a  great  multitude  of  hearts  would  count  it  sweet 
and  beautiful  to  have  something  assured  to  them 
concerning  the  resurrection  body.  Has  God  said 
anything  about  it  ?  Seeking  to  avoid  being  wise 
above  what  is  written,  we  believe  the  following 

147 


148  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

things  may  be  affirmed  and  rested  in  with  rejoic- 
ing confidence  as  God's  sure  word  of  prophecy : — 

I.  That  the  resurrection  body  will  be  material 
— a  literal,  material,  human  body. 

II.  That  it  will  be  our  own  body  in  unbroken 
identity. 

III.  That  it  will  not  be  the  same  as  to  actual 
materials,  atom  for  atom. 

IV.  That  its  being  material  will  be  no  bar  to 
great  changes. 

V.  That  it  will  have  certain  characteristics  in 
distinct  contrast  with  those  of  the  present  body. 

Let  us  hold  these  successive  points  before  us 
for  a  while,  that  we  may  the  more  fully  see  their 
Scriptural  warrant  and  their  true  significance. 

I.  TJie  resurrection  body  will  be  material — made 
up  of  matter,  in  contradistinction  from  mind  or 
spirit.  Our  body  is  material  now,  wholly  unlike 
our  inner,  truer,  and  only  essential  self.  It  will  be 
material  then,  wholly  unHke  our  inner,  truer,  and 
essential  self.  While  this  is  simply  presumptive, 
it  is  conclusive  in  the  absence  of  proof  to  the 
contrary. 

Again,  the  apostle's  extended  reference  to  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  "  flesh,"  and  the  differing  glory  of 
"  bodies  "  is  otherwise  inexplicable.  "  All  flesh 
is  not  the  same  flesh";  but  its  changes  do  not 


WHAT  SHALL  THE  RESURRECTION  BODY  BE  149 

change  its  essential  substance.  All  flesh  is 
"  flesh,"  though  not  the  same  flesh.  Celestial 
and  terrestrial  bodies  differ  in  glory,  but  they 
are  material  bodies  still.  Now,  if  the  difference 
between  the  present  body  and  the  resurrection 
body  is  substantive  and  fundamental,  these  allu- 
sions lose  their  force  and   have  no    significance. 

Still  again,  Christ  arose  with  a  true  resurrec- 
tion body.  But  the  body  with  which  He  rose 
was  material.  What  did  He  say  when  His  dis- 
ciples doubted  it  ?  "  Behold  My  hands  and  My 
feet."  "Handle  Me,  and  see."  "A  spirit  hath 
not  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  Me  have."  Was 
Christ  quibbling  with  words  ?  Did  He  mean  to 
deceive  His  disciples  ?  Or  was  it  a  veritable  body 
of  "  flesh  and  bones  "  that  stood  before  them  ? 

Some  say  this  was  not  His  resurrection  body, 
but  the  body  of  His  burial  simply  restored  to 
life ;  and  that  the  vital  change  by  which  the 
mortal  took  on  immortality  occurred  at  the  as- 
cension. But  how  then  is  Christ  "  the  firstfruits 
of  them  that  are  asleep"?  What  are  "first- 
fruits  "  ?  They  are  fruits  that  are  first  in  order 
of  time,  and  fruits  that  are  Hke  the  fruits  that 
follow  after.  They  precede  the  remaining 
harvest  and  are  a  sample  of  the  remaining 
harvest.     But  if  Christ  rose  with  a  mortal  body 


I50  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

subject  to  death,  then  in  no  respect  does  His 
resurrection  differ  from  that  of  Lazarus  who  rose 
before  Him.  Hence,  He  is  not  the  firstfruits  in 
time.  And  if  Christ  rose  with  a  mortal  body  sub- 
ject to  death,  then  in  no  respect  does  His  resur- 
rection resemble  the  resurrection  of  His  people. 
They  shall  be  raised  in  "  incorruption "  and 
"  glory "  and  "  power,"  while  Christ  came  from 
the  grave  with  a  body  subject  still  to  dissolution. 
Hence,  He  is  not  the  "  firstfruits "  as  a  sample. 
But  Christ  ate  of  "  broiled  fish  "  after  He  was 
risen,  it  is  said.  And  then  it  is  asked.  Does 
the  resurrection  body  need  food?  Which  is  an- 
swered by  asking,  Did  the  angels,  who  ate  of 
the  dressed  calf  of  Abraham,  need  food  ?  Christ 
ate  of  His  power,  not  of  His  necessity.  But  if 
His  body  was  "  material,"  how  could  it  appear 
and  disappear,  passing  through  doors  ?  it  is 
asked.  Which  is  answered  by  saying.  Just  as, 
before  the  resurrection,  it  could  walk  on  the  sea. 
How  could  Jesus  take  five  loaves  and  keep  break- 
ing them  until  they  fed  five  thousand  ?  Shall  we 
limit  the  Lord  of  life  and  death  by  the  laws  of 
matter  ?  Some  change  may,  indeed,  have  passed 
upon  Christ's  body  as  He  went  from  Olivet  to 
heaven — giving  it  a  glory  such  as  it  wore  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration.     But  the  vital  change 


WHAT  SHALL  THE  RESURRECTION  BODY  BE  151 

occurred  at  the  sepulchre,  where  its  weakness 
gave  way  to  power,  and  death  and  dissolution 
were  made  for  ever  impossible.  "  Now  hath 
Christ  been  raised  from  the  dead,  the  firstfruits 
of  them  that  are  asleep."  The  firstfruits  was 
material.     So  shall  the  whole  harvest  be. 

II.  The  resurrection  body  zvill  be  our  own  body 
in  unbroken  identity.  "  God  giveth  it  a  body  even 
as  it  pleased  Him,  and  to  each  seed  a  body  of 
its  own."  He  makes  no  mistake  in  the  succes- 
sion. Wheat  comes  up  wheat,  and  barley  comes 
up  barley,  and  corn  comes  up  corn ;  and  the 
thought  is,  matters  will  not  get  mixed  in  the 
resurrections  of  the  saints  any  more  than  they  do 
in  the  resurrections  of  nature.  This  reference  to 
the  law  by  which  every  seed  sown  produces  after 
its  kind  is  meaningless  here  if  it  is  not  intended 
to  assure  us  that  the  body  of  the  burial  will  have 
in  the  body  of  the  resurrection  a  true  and  legiti- 
mate successorship,  recognizable  and  unmistak- 
able, so  that  each  of  the  saints,  when  the  trump 
shall  sound  and  the  dead  come  forth,  will  know 
his  body  as  his  own,  belonging  to  him  by  reason 
of  a  past  possession. 

This  position  is  further  emphasized  and  sup- 
ported and,  indeed,  made  incontrovertible  by  the 
very  meaning  of  the  word — resurrection.     How 


152  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

can  a  body  be  said  to  be  risen  again  that  never 
was  buried  ?  The  thing  that  is  sown  is  the  thing 
that  is  raised.  If  the  continuity  is  broken  and 
the  sameness  wholly  lost,  so  that  the  body  raised 
is  a  new  and  totally  different  body,  with  abso- 
lutely nothing  to  identify  it  with  the  body  of  the 
burial,  then  it  is  a  creation,  not  a  resurrection. 

Here  we  reach  the  difficulty  that  so  often 
staggers  faith.  If  the  buried  body  and  the  risen 
body  must  be  the  same  to  constitute  a  resurrec- 
tion, how  is  it  possible  for  the  dead  to  be  raised  ? 
These  bodies  are  burned,  cast  into  the  sea,  buried 
in  the  earth,  dissolved  in  nature's  laboratory, 
taken  up  into  animal  and  vegetable  life,  flung  into 
the  all-surrounding  air,  breathed  into  myriads 
of  lungs,  made  food  for  man,  and  so  organized 
as  elements  of  other  bodies,  which  also  die  and 
repeat  the  process.  The  question  returns  with 
an  added  emphasis.  How  are  the  dead  raised  up, 
and  with  what  manner  of  body  do  they  come  ? 
This  brings  us  to  our  third  Scripture    certainty. 

III.  The  risen  body  ivill  not  be  the  same  as  to 
actual  materials,  atom  for  atom.  Mark,  now,  how 
the  apostle,  while  maintaining  the  body's  identity 
as  we  have  seen,  distinctly  denies  the  sameness 
as  to  actual  materials.  "  Thou  sowest  not  that 
body   that    shall   be ;    but   thou    sowest   a   bare 


WHAT  SHALL  THE  RESURRECTION  BODY  BE  153 

grain";  that  is,  the  mere  naked  kernel.  That 
buried  kernel  of  wheat,  in  its  separate  and  specific 
atoms,  does  not  come  up  again,  but  wheat  comes 
up.  The  identity  is  never  lost.  God  gives  to  every 
seed  its  own  body.  He  does  not  give  to  the 
wheat  seed  a  barley  body,  nor  to  the  oat  seed  a 
wheat  body.  "  So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead."  The  dead  body,  like  the  dead  seed,  main- 
tains its  identity  in  unbroken  continuity  through 
all  the  marvelous  transformations  of  burial  and 
resurrection,  but  it  does  not  perpetuate  its  atomic 
parts.  The  identical  material  atoms  of  the  body 
we  lay  in  the  grave  do  not  come  up  out  of  the 
grave  any  more  than  the  identical  material  atoms 
of  the  kernel  of  corn  we  put  in  the  soil  come  up. 
But  the  identity  of  the  body  is  no  more  lost  than 
the  identity  of  the  corn.  Wherein  this  identity 
consists,  what  constitutes  it,  science  cannot  tell. 
We  certainly  know  that  change  of  atoms  does  not 
destroy  it.  There  is  not  an  atom  in  any  living 
body  to-day  that  was  in  that  body  ten  years  ago, 
yet  it  is  the  same  body. 

IV.  The  fourth  Scriptural  certainty  given  us  by 
the  apostle  is,  that  though  the  body  is  material, 
this  is  no  bar  to  marvelous  changes  attd  great 
glory.  There  is  a  flesh  of  beasts,  of  fishes,  and  of 
birds.     There  are  bodies  terrestrial  and  celestial. 


154  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun,  another  of  the 
moon,  another  of  the  stars.  For  one  star  differeth 
from  another  star  in  glory,  "  So  also  is  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead."  The  possible  modifications 
of  matter  are  almost  endless.  What  a  difference 
between  the  crawling  caterpillar  with  its  dull  hues 
and  the  fairy  butterfly,  flashing  sunbeams  from  its 
wings!  Resurrection  wrought  that  magic — death 
and  resurrection.  It  is  the  same  body ;  yet  how 
changed  the  atoms  and  elements !  We  all  know 
that  common  coal  and  the  brilliant,  imperishable 
diamond  are  the  same  substance.  We  all  know 
that  many  of  the  forms  of  peerless  beauty  in 
nature  are  evolved  from  that  which  is  colorless. 
The  most  beautiful  life  is  here  and  there  the 
product  of  the  most  repulsive.  A  rosebush, 
planted  over  decaying  matter  of  any  kind,  and 
striking  its  roots  down  through  the  corruption 
and  rottenness,  will  outstrip  its  fellows  in  thrift 
and  beauty,  as  if  the  very  corruption  of  death 
underneath  were  sucked  up  through  the  roots 
and  branches  of  the  bush,  and  transmuted  of  God 
into  leaf  and  flower  and  the  attar  of  roses. 

We  need  not,  therefore,  stagger  at  the  idea 
of  the  materiality  of  the  resurrection  body  as  if 
it  involved  grossness  and  earthliness.  It  may 
remain  material,  and  yet   take  on  a  beauty  and 


WHAT  SHALL  THE  RESURRECTION  BODY  BE  155 

a  glory  and  a  capacity  fitting  it  for  splendid 
uses  in  the  changed  conditions  of  the  heavenly 
world.  And  here  we  reach  our  last  Scriptural 
certainty. 

V.  Tlie  resurrection  body  zvill  have  certain  dis- 
tinct characteristics  in  positive  contrast  to  those 
that  mark  the  body  of  the  burial.  The  apostle, 
under  inspiration  of  God,  in  his  marvelous  answer 
to  the  question,  "  With  what  body  do  the  dead 
arise  ?"  proceeds  to  say  what  these  characteristics 
are.  So  far  as  he  goes  we  have  sure  foot-planting 
for  our  feet.  We  walk  out  on  a  basis  of  certainty. 
We  know  what  the  body  will  be.  All  beyond  is 
sheer  conjecture. 

"  It  is  sown  in  corruption ;  it  is  raised  in  incor- 
ruption."  This  is  the  first  contrast.  Here  it  is  in 
process  of  decay.  The  doom  of  death  is  on  it. 
Corruption  at  last  hangs  out  its  signals,  and  we 
bury  it  out  of  our  sight.  But  it  will  be  raised  in 
incorruption,  with  nothing  in  it  or  of  it  upon 
which  disease  and  corruption  may  fasten — a  body 
of  undecaying  parts  and  powers,  its  mortality 
swallowed  up  of  life. 

"  It  is  sown  in  dishonor ;  it  is  raised  in  glory." 
This  is  the  second  contrast.  The  body  is  laid 
away  a  lifeless  body,  a  dead  body,  a  corpse.  Death 
makes  spoil  of  its  beauty  and  delivers  it  over  to 


156  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

loathsomeness  and  putrefaction ;  but  it  will  be 
raised  in  glory.  Just  what  the  glory  will  be  we 
may  not  know.  But  Paul  elsewhere  tells  us  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "shall  fashion  anew  the 
body  of  our  humiliation,  that  it  may  be  conformed 
to  the  body  of  His  glory."  And  when  we  think 
of  Tabor,  where  "his  face  did  shine  as  the  sun," 
who  shall  hazard  a  guess  that  shall  transcend  the 
resplendent  reality ! 

"  It  is  sown  in  weakness ;  it  is  raised  in  power." 
This  is  the  third  contrast.  Here  the  body  is 
weak.  It  tires  of  effort,  is  easily  exhausted,  needs 
frequent  rest.  At  death  it  is  utterly  powerless. 
But  it  will  be  raised  in  power.  Not  in  the  pos- 
session of  enormous  physical  strength,  but  free 
from  the  possibility  of  decrepitude,  traced  with  the 
vigor  of  immortal  youth,  and  aglow  with  the 
freshness  of  eternal  morning. 

"  It  is  sown  a  natural  body ;  it  is  raised  a  spirit- 
ual body."  This  is  the  fourth  and  last  contrast. 
And  at  first  blush  it  seems  like  a  contradiction  to 
what  has  already  been  said.  If  the  resurrection 
body  is  "  spiritual,"  how  can  it  be  material  ?  But 
the  contrast  is  not  between  a  material  body  and  a 
spiritual  body,  but  between  a  natural  body  and  a 
spiritual  body.  What  does  the  apostle  mean  by 
a   "  natural "    body  ?     Certainly   not    a   material. 


WHAT  SHALL  THE  RESURRECTION  BODY  BE  157 

physical  body.  He  uses  this  same  word  in  this 
same  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  in  saying,  "  The 
natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,"  where  the  meaning  is  obvious.  Clearly 
the  "  natural "  man  is  not  the  material,  physical 
man,  but  man  by  nature,  as  he  is  at  present  con- 
stituted, blinded  by  sin,  subject  to  infirmity,  struck 
through  with  the  taint  of  corruption  and  the 
doom  of  death ;  he  cannot  receive  and  know  the 
things  of  God.  So  here,  the  "  natural  body  "  is 
not  the  body  as  mere  matter,  made  up  of  material 
atoms,  but  the  body  by  nature  as  it  is  now  con- 
stituted, subject  to  corruption  and  death.  And 
the  "  spiritual "  body  is  just  the  opposite  of  all 
this — not  a  spirit  body,  for  that  would  be  opposed 
to  a  matter  body — but  a  body  without  infirmity, 
not  subject  to  death,  immortal  like  the  spirit, 
fittted  for  the  spirit  home ;  but  still  a  body — a 
true,  material  body. 

The  further  saying  of  the  apostle,  "  that  flesh 
and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God," 
is  in  perfect  consistency  with  this  position.  He 
means  by  "  flesh  and  blood  "  the  body  as  now 
constituted,  with  its  weakness  and  perishable- 
ness  and  mortality,  for  corruption  cannot  inherit 
incorruption ;  that  which  is  mortal  cannot  be 
immortal.   We  have  a  perfectly  analogous  expres- 


158  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

sion  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  where  the 
author  says,  "  Forasmuch  then  as  the  children  are 
partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  He  "  (Christ)  "  also 
Himself  likewise  took  part  of  the  same;  that 
through  death  He  might  destroy,"  etc. — i.  e., 
Christ  took  upon  Himself  "  flesh  and  blood  "  that 
He  might  die.  He  took  a  mortal  body  subject 
to  the  ordinary  laws  of  mortality.  And  it  is  this 
"  flesh  and  blood,"  not  the  body  as  material,  but 
the  body  as  mortal,  that  cannot  inherit  the  king- 
dom of  God. 

Thus  we  are  left  securely  with  the  five  points 
affirmed  at  the  opening  of  our  discussion.  Here 
they  are,  the  five  Scriptural  certainties  concerning 
the  resurrection  body:  It  will  be  material,  it  will 
be  recognizably  our  own,  it  will  not  be  "  the 
same"  as  to  its  individual  atoms,  it  will  be  greatly 
changed,  and  it  will  be  raised  in  incorruption, 
glory,  and  power.  These  things  we  know.  They 
are  the  averments  of  Scripture. 

The  Scripture  knows  only  two  bodies — the 
body  of  the  burial  and  the  body  of  the  resurrec- 
tion ;  the  body  of  humiliation  and  the  body  of 
glory ;  the  body  we  lay  in  the  grave  and  the  body 
that  will  come  up  out  of  the  grave  when  the  last 
trumpet  shall  sound.  The  Scripture  knows  noth- 
ing of  a   third   body,  a  sort    of  tcrtiiim  quid,  an 


WHAT  SHALL  THE  RESURRECTION  BODY  BE  159 

intermediate,  refined,  subtle,  ethereal,  sublimated 
somewhat,  which  the  soul  is  to  have  as  an 
enswathement  until  the  day  of  resurrection.  This 
is  the  fiction  of  a  philosophy  that  thinks  the  soul 
cannot  exist  apart  from  some  kind  of  body.  The 
Scripture  knows  nothing  of  "  the  development 
of  a  spiritual  body  at  death  from  the  bodies  we 
now  inhabit."  This  is  the  fiction  of  Swedenbor- 
gian  imagination.  The  Scripture  knows  nothing 
of  a  "  spirit-like  body  "  in  the  shape  of  an  invisi- 
ble, "individual,  self-contained,  self-sustaining, 
self-acting,  vital  entity,"  that  is  all  the  while 
invisibly  building  the  material  body.  This  body- 
builder, it  has  been  claimed,  is  "  the  spiritual 
body  "  of  which  the  apostle  speaks.  But  if  there 
be  such  a  body,  it  is  here  now.  It  is  sown.  It  is 
buried.  It  dies.  It  is  just  as  "  spiritual  "  now  as 
it  will  be  when  raised.  But  the  apostle  says  that 
the  spiritual  body  he  is  talking  about  is  not  spir- 
itual when  it  dies  and  is  buried.  This  material, 
feeble,  corruptible,  perishable  mortal  body,  that 
we  can  see  with  our  eyes  and  handle  with  our 
hands,  it  is  the  thing  sown.  And  it  is  raised  a 
spiritual  body. 

Let  us  keep  to  the  record.  We  have  no  need 
of  guesswork.  It  is  enough  to  know  that  the 
passageway  through  the  tomb  is  ablaze  with  the 


i6o  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

glory  of  resurrection;  that  dust  and  ashes  are  the 
seed-plots  of  immortality :  that  our  bodies  are  to 
be  fashioned  like  unto  the  body  of  Christ's  glory; 
that  they  will  be  real,  material,  immortal  bodies 
raised  in  power  and  glory ;  that  we  shall  recog- 
nize them  as  our  own,  belonging  to  us  by  reason 
of  a  past  possession ;  and  that  only  when  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  shall  be  brought  to  pass 
will  the  highest  notes  and  the  grandest  chords  in 
the  chorus  of  our  triumph  in  Christ  Jesus  be 
struck.  Who  would  not  die  ?  We  may  go  to 
the  grave  with  a  shout  of  victory !  The  grave  is 
but  the  soul's  robing-room,  where  it  shall  at  last 
put  on  a  garment  fit  for  the  palace  of  the  King ! 
Through  and  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death  is  shot  the  glory  of  these  resurrection 
rays.  How  it  banks  the  way  to  the  tomb  with 
flowers !  How  it  transforms  the  grim  skeleton 
into  one  of  God's  beautiful  presence  angels,  come 
to  empty  our  tombs  as  Christ's  tomb  in  the 
garden  was  emptied !  "  O  death,  where  is  thy  vic- 
tory ?  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  The  sting 
of  death  is  sin;  and  the  power  of  sin  is  the  law: 
but  thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  "  Now  hath 
Christ  been  raised  from  the  dead,  the  firstfruits  of 
them  that  are  asleep." 


WHAT  SHALL  THE  RESURRECTION  BODY  BE  i6i 

"Wherefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  stead- 
fast, unmovable,  ahvays  abounding  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your 
labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 


VIII 
GOD'S   GREAT   PRAISING   DAY 


VIII 

GOD'S   GREAT   PRAISING   DAY 

"Then  shall  each  man  have  his  praise  from  God." — I  CoR. 
iv.  5. 

This  text  twists  things  about.  It  shows  us  the 
reverse  side  of  the  medal  God  has  stamped  in 
the  mint  of  heaven  for  all  loyal  souls.  And  the 
reverse  side  is  the  divine  side.  Commonly  we 
are  occupied  with  the  human  side.  We  are  ordi- 
narily looking  at  the  inscription  that  tells  of  our 
duty  to  God.  And  praise  is  one  of  those  duties. 
Praise  is  the  instinct  of  the  heart  that  loves  and 
worships.  More  often  than  anything  else  the 
Church  sings  "  Praise  God  from  whom  all  bless- 
ings flow."  Luther  often  used  to  say  to  his 
people,  "  Let  us  praise  God  and  shame  the  Devil 
by  singing  the  forty-sixth  Psalm " ;  and  then 
with  a  lusty  vigor  he  would  break  forth  with 
"  Ein'  feste  Burg  " — "  A  mighty  fortress  is  our 
God."  The  Psalms  of  praise  have  been  the 
hymns  of  the  ages.  They  betoken  adoring  love 
and  gratitude  and  high  appreciation  ;  not  only  a 
sense  of  favors  received,  but  more  fully  and  truly 

165 


l66  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

a  sense  of  the  worth  of  Him  who  bestows  the 
favors.  We  mean  the  quahty  of  the  giver  far 
more  than  we  do  the  quantity  of  the  gift  in  any 
true  praise  we  render.  Hence,  if  praise  is  not 
often  on  our  hps  in  worship  we  are  not  in  key 
with  the  heavenly  harmonies ;  our  sacred  song 
has  not  struck  its  truest  and  deepest  notes  and  is 
out  of  tune.  He  has  gone  deepest  into  God's 
heart  who  most  profoundly  and  adoringly  praises 
Him. 

But  the  inspired  apostle  turns  the  reverse  side 
of  the  medal  toward  us  to-day,  and  lets  us  read 
one  of  the  secrets  of  the  Almighty — "  Then  shall 
each  man  have  his  praise  from  God." 

Herein  is  a  marvelous  thing.  A  day  is  coming 
when  God  will  be  at  the  business  of  giving  praise. 
I  venture  to  say  we  have  not  often — some  of  us 
doubtless  have  never — thought  of  it  in  quite  that 
way.  Then — when  the  Lord  shall  bring  to  light 
the  hidden  things  of  darkness  and  make  manifest 
the  counsels  of  the  heart — then  shall  each  man 
have  his  praise  from  God, 

Paul's  word  here  is  not  a  word  of  warning.  It 
is  exclusively  a  word  of  comfort.  He  is  speaking 
of  the  good  deeds  that  have  been  untrumpeted 
and  unknown,  hidden  in  silence  and  darkness,  and 
which  the  Lord  shall  then  bring  to  light. 


GOD'S  GREAT  PRAISING  DAY  167 

In  like  manner,  when  the  apostle  speaks  of  the 
counsels  of  the  hearts,  he  means  the  hearts  that 
had  the  love  of  Christ  in  them ;  that,  down  in 
their  deepest  depths,  beat  true ;  that  tried,  however 
feebly  and  humbly,  to  put  some  honor  on  the 
Master.  And  He  says,  when  the  counsels  of  these 
hearts,  the  things  they  planned,  the  devices  of 
love  they  longed  to  execute,  the  motives  they 
cherished,  the  silent  inner  battles  they  fought, 
when  these  shall  be  made  manifest,  then  shall 
each  true,  loyal  disciple  have  his  praise  from  God. 

Let  us  see  now  what  this  praise  from  God  will 
be. 

I.  Beyond  a  doubt  it  zuill  be  gefiiiinc.  There 
will  be  no  gloss  about  it.  God  will  not  indulge 
in  mere  compliments.  It  is  not  thinkable  that  He 
should  say  other  than  what  He  means,  or  that 
He  should  mean  what  is  not  justified  to  the  full 
by  the  conditions  and  facts.  Praise  from  His  lips 
will  have  the  stamp  of  absolute  sincerity. 

It  is  hard  to  find  it  so  in  human  relationships. 
Partly  because  of  love's  bias.  Partly  because  of 
social  conventionalities.  Our  afifections  influence 
our  judgments.  Accepted  usage  has  a  good  deal 
to  do  with  determining  the  measure  of  praise 
we  render  in  any  given  case.  The  very  paucity 
of  our  resources  of  expression  makes  it  sometimes 


i68  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

difficult  to  balance  deed  with  an  exact  equivalent 
of  commendation.  We  are  often  trammeled  by- 
poor  speech  in  trying  to  tell  our  heart's  estimate 
of  some  loving  and  loyal  service. 

Sincerity  is  a  word  of  singular  beauty,  both  in 
its  Latin  and  Greek  significance.  It  is  derived 
from  two  Latin  words  that  mean  "  without  wax," 
and  that  were  applied  to  vessels  of  ancient  earthen- 
ware so  perfect  that  there  was  no  flaw  in  them 
needing  to  be  filled  with  wax.  They  were  sine 
cera.  Hence  our  word  "  sincere."  Sincerity,  in 
the  New  Testament,  is  from  two  Greek  words 
meaning  "Judged  in  the  sunlight" — that  which 
can  let  the  sunlight  flash  through  it  all,  sure  to  be 
found  absolutely  flawless.  So  sincerity  in  praise 
implies  neither  overestimate  nor  underestimate, 
but  perfect  estimate,  without  wax,  shot  through 
and  through  with  sunlight  and  found  true. 

God's  praise,  when  He  comes  to  give  it,  will  be 
of  this  fine  quality — genuine,  sincere,  true.  It 
will  represent  actual  worth  without  exaggeration 
and  without  defect.  It  will  measure  up  to  the 
exact  value  of  deed  and  character,  and  be  utterly 
unaffected  by  partiality  or  prejudice. 

In  human  praise  there  is  almost  inevitably  an 
admixture  made  up  of,  or  affected  by,  personal 
relationship,  limitation  of  view,  overfondness  for 


GOD'S  GREAT  PRAISING  DAY  169 

the  object.  And  hence  the  questions  that  often 
challenge  the  praises  bestowed  by  men.  "  Does 
he  really  mean  it?"  "Can  it  possibly  be  true  ?" 
"  Has  he  not  been  imposed  upon  by  appear- 
ances ?"  But  such  questions  will  never  be  heard 
when  God's  praises  of  His  people  are  sounded 
out.  There  will  be  surprises — blessed  surprises — 
but  there  will  be  no  challenges.  God's  great 
heart  will  speak,  but  two  things  will  make  His 
praise  ring  true.  He  will  know  all  the  facts — the 
whole  inner  history — and  He  will  keep  truth  on 
His  side.  So  that  praise  from  His  lips  will  be  as 
far  removed  from  empty  compliment  or  fulsome 
flattery  as  a  sparkling  jewel  is  from  the  bubble 
that  flashes  with  the  jewel's  brilliant  hues. 

II.  Another  marked  feature  of  this  praise  from 
God  will  be  this  :  it  zvill  be  individual. 

"  Then  shall  each  man  have  his  praise  from 
God."  It  is  a  distinguishing  mark  of  the  divine 
method  that  it  individualizes  men.  With  God  there 
are  never  any  mechanical  arrangements  for  dealing 
with  souls  in  crowds.  The  tremendous  emphasis 
of  the  gospel  is  on  personality.  God  is  a  person. 
And  when  He  made  man  in  His  own  image  He 
made  him  a  person.  Personality  is  one  of  the 
elements  of  Godlikeness.  Personality  is  therefore 
the    miehtiest  and    finest    thinsf  in   the   universe. 


I70  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

And  God  honors  it  as  He  honors  nothing  else. 
He  never  ignores  it,  never  merges  it  in  another, 
never  loses  recognition  of  it  in  any  multitudinous 
company.  We  do,  in  human  movements  of  mag- 
nitude ;  we  can't  help  it.  A  general  does  not  deal 
with  his  army  man  by  man.  Each  soldier  cannot 
be  individualized  in  the  vast  armed  host.  Indeed, 
an  army  is  at  its  best  when  individuality  is  lost  in 
solidarity,  when  it  is  a  mighty  machine ;  an  intelli- 
gent, thinking  machine  indeed,  but  still  a  machine, 
held,  marched,  hurled,  and  fought  to  victory  as 
one  compact,  and  so  resistless,  force. 

But  God  does  not  swing  saints  that  way. 
Though  they  get  to  be  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand,  and  thousands  of  thousands,  a  multi- 
tude that  no  man  can  number,  the  individuality 
of  each  is  never  lost  in  the  record  God  keeps  of 
them.  He  enthrones  personality  as  an  indestruc- 
tible unit  in  His  moral  universe,  and  through  all 
His  vast  designs  the  personality  of  each  is  re- 
spected and  dealt  with  as  if  there  were  no  other 
personality  to  deal  with.  His  approach  to  each 
soul  is  personal.  His  call  to  repentance  is  per- 
sonal. His  pardon  is  personal.  His  gift  of  eternal 
life  is  personal.  Repentance  cannot  be  exercised 
by  a  mass  meeting.  Regeneration  is  not  a  noun 
of  multitude.     God  does  not  sanctify  society.     He 


GOD'S  GREAT  PRAISING  DAY  171 

regenerates  and  sanctifies  the  individual,  and  to 
that  extent  is  society  sanctified — not  one  jot  or 
tittle  more.  So  it  is  with  all  God's  moral  deal- 
ings. So  it  is  with  judgment.  Every  man  must 
give  account  of  himself  to  God. 

Now  carry  this  thought  of  the  individuality  of 
God's  dealings  into  His  praise-giving,  and  how  it 
glorifies  the  matter !  It  will  be  no  wholesale 
affair.  It  will  not  be  simply  one  grand  encomium, 
spoken  to  a  multitudinous  host,  splendid  as  that 
would  be.  It  will  not  be  merely  a  sovereign's 
recognition  of  heroic  service  read  to  a  battle- 
scarred  army  fresh  from  the  deeds  that  make 
history  and  win  immortality,  splendid  as  that 
would  be. 

It  may  be  all  this.  It  is  not  for  me  to  deny  the 
imposing  innumerable  assembly  at  the  last  great 
day ;  the  gathering  of  God's  elect  from  all  the 
ages,  and  the  welcome  plaudit  of  the  King  of 
kings  as  He  says  to  the  mighty  multitude,  "  Come, 
ye  blessed  of  My  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world."  But  over  and  above  this  imposing  tribute, 
spoken  to  the  assembled  host  of  God's  redeemed 
and  enhancing  immeasurably  the  honor  and  the 
joy  of  the  heavenly  awards,  will  be  the  distinct 
and  specific  recognition  of  individual  service ;  for 


172  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

each  man  shall  have  his  praise  from  God.  "  He 
calleth  them  all  by  name  "  is  Christ's  own  way  of 
telling  us  of  the  tender  shepherd's  personal  care. 
And  from  God's  lips  praises  will  fall  having  their 
matchless  and  measureless  worth  in  this,  that  they 
are  meant  for  one  and  one  only ;  each  lowly  dis- 
ciple getting  his  individual  meed  of  honor  for  his 
own  peculiar  and  personal  fidelity. 

Now  if  we  add  to  the  genuineness  and  the  indi- 
viduality of  the  praise  God  is  to  bestow  upon 
those  that  love  Him  the  discriminating  quality  of 
it,  we  shall  have  named  at  least  the  chief  elements 
of  value  in  this  rare  thing  God  is  to  do  for  His 
children  when  the  counsels  of  the  hearts  are  made 
manifest. 

HI.  Discrimination  is  to  mark  the  praise  from 
God.  It  will  have  the  element  of  perfect  adapta- 
tion. It  will  be  fitted  with  an  exquisite  delicacy 
to  the  doer  and  the  deed.  Its  correspondence 
and  adjustment  to  the  service  rendered  will  be  of 
that  rare  and  matchless  sort  which  we  dream  of 
in  human  relations,  but  never  fully  realize  because 
of  our  inability  to  read  all  the  secrets  of  the  heart. 

Sometimes  we  see  approximations  to  this  divine 
ideal  of  praise  in  the  tribute  dropped  from  human 
lips  for  fidelities  nobly  met,  and  all  the  world 
recognizes   the    heavenly   likeness.      A   mother's 


GOD'S  GREAT  PRAISING  DAY  173 

heart  is  nearest  God's  heart  in  this.  She  knows 
her  boy  as  no  one  else  knows  him,  and  she  is 
sympathetic  to  the  mood  and  temper  of  his  soul. 
And  these  two  things,  intelligence  and  sympa- 
thy, and  these  two  only,  can  give  to  praise  that 
discriminating  quality  which  puts  it  beyond  all 
price. 

There  must  be  intelligence  in  order  that  dis- 
crimination shall  have  its  finest  and  fullest  worth, 
the  power  to  discern  things  that  differ  both  in 
fiber  of  deed  and  fiber  of  spirit — the  ability  to 
make  nice  distinctions ;  in  other  words,  knowl- 
edge of  the  doer  and  of  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  doing.  Clearly,  this  is  vital  to  one  who  is  to 
praise  in  any  royal  way.  It  must  be  no  blind, 
indiscriminate  affair,  with  however  lavish  a  spirit 
it  is  administered. 

But  intelligence  is  not  all.  There  is  a  subtle 
something  to  be  found  in  praise  of  the  divinest 
sort  that  even  knowledge  cannot  furnish.  Intel- 
ligence is  of  the  head.  It  is  cold,  hard,  metallic. 
It  can  discover,  analyze,  weigh,  count,  do  mere 
justice  to,  but  it  has  no  heart.  There  are  inner 
moods  and  postures  and  exquisite  delicacies  of 
spiritual  approach  to  them,  a  subtle,  almost  inde- 
finable sensitiveness  of  feeling,  to  which  intellect 
must  be  utterly  and  forever  blind. 


174  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

How  often  it  is  said,  "  You  cannot  argue  against 
a  sentiment!"  Of  course  not.  But  what  a  potent, 
almost  omnipotent  thing  sentiment  is  in  the  con- 
duct and  the  deep  joy  of  hfe  !  Argument  is  of 
the  intellect.  Sentiment  is  of  the  heart.  To 
knowledge,  therefore,  must  be  added  sympathy 
if  you  are  to  have  that  discrimination  in  praise 
which  will  make  it  always  perfect  in  its  adaptation 
and  give  it  its  truest  and  heavenliest  quality. 

When,  therefore,  each  man  shall  have  his  praise 
from  God,  the  praise  will  be  like  this :  it  will  be 
tenderly  and  delicately  appreciative  of  deed  and 
doer.  For  God  will  know — God  will  surely  know 
— and  God  has  a  heart.  Through  and  through 
the  service,  compassing  it  all  and  glorifying  it  all, 
will  be  His  knowledge  and  His  sympathy. 

For  illustration,  think  of  Mary  and  her  cruse 
of  ointment  that  she  broke  and  poured  upon 
Christ's  head.  The  disciples  saw  the  deed  and 
murmured  against  her.  Christ  saw  Mary's  motive. 
He  was  sympathetic  to  the  mood  of  her  spirit; 
and  He  said,  "  She  hath  done  what  she  could. 
She  hath  wrought  a  good  work  on  me."  The 
Greek  word  rendered  "  good "  here  is  not  the 
ordinary  word  for  good,  but  a  word  that  carries  in 
it  the  element  of  beauty.  She  hath  wrought  a 
beautiful  work    on  me ;  morally  beautiful,  show- 


GOD'S  GREAT  PRAISING  DAY  175 

ing  us  thus,  for  evermore,  that  it  is  not  only  the 
merely  useful  but  the  morally  beautiful  that 
pleases  Christ;  but  showing  us  also  how  ten- 
derly and  lovingly  sympathetic  the  praise  will  be 
that  shall  one  day  be  given  for  the  doing  and 
denying  of  every  loving  and  lowly  heart. 

What  a  day  that  will  be  when  such  praise 
— genuine,  personal,  discriminating — shall  fall 
from  God's  own  lips,  for  each  one  of  all  the  ran- 
somed host  who  have  served  and  loved  Him 
here  !     What  a  great  day  that  will  be  ! 

A  day  of  blessed  surprises,  God's  thought  of 
us,  of  each  one  of  us,  will  be  read  out,  and  things 
long  forgotten  will  be  recalled.  Battles  that 
seemed  defeats  will  be  found  to  have  been  written 
down  by  God  as  victories.  A  word  of  ours, 
spoken  in  love  indeed,  and  to  save  some  soul,  but 
spoken  in  great  weakness  and  fear,  which  seemed 
lost  in  the  wild  tumult  of  human  passion  with 
which  that  soul  was  tossed  and  torn — that  very 
word  may  be  shown  to  have  been  winged  of  the 
invisible  Spirit,  and  borne  to  the  inner  stillness  of 
the  heart's  deeper  sea,  and  there  heard  as  the 
voice  of  God  after  the  roar  of  passion  had  died 
away,  and  made  the  potent  word  by  which  that 
soul  was  led  to  Christ  and  peace.  And  the  won- 
dering question,  "  When  saw  I  Thee  an  hungered?" 


176  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

will  be  answered  by  the  gracious  praise,  "  You 
saw  one  of  earth's  children,  weary  and  worn  and 
passion-tossed,  and  your  word  was  bread  of  life 
in  that  hunger  and  darkness  of  sin  and  death. 
And  inasmuch  as  you  did  it  to  this  human  soul, 
you  did  it  to  Me." 

And  other  blessed  surprises  will  burst  upon  the 
faithful  in  that  great  praising  day  of  God.  Lowly 
deeds  will  be  given  undying  honor.  Gifts  of  love 
that  went  untrumpeted  on  earth  and  that  were 
little  thought  of,  even  by  the  doers,  will  shine  out 
with  transcendent  beauty  and  glory  by  the  divine 
estimate  put  upon  them. 

Here  we  are  prone  to  value  service  by  bulk. 
With  God,  what  is  behind  the  gift  is  more  than 
the  gift.  One  day,  while  on  earth,  Jesus  sat  over 
against  the  treasury ;  and  as  rich  and  poor  were 
casting  in  their  gifts  He  weighed  them  in  His 
heavenly  balances.  In  these  balances  the  two 
mites  of  a  poor  widow  outweighed  all  the  other 
gifts  together.  But  do  you  suppose  either  the 
rich,  who  cast  in  of  their  abundance,  or  that  lowly 
widow,  who  cast  in  of  her  want,  estimated  things 
in  that  way?  Doubtless  the  rich  quite  congratu- 
lated themselves  on  their  large  liberality.  Doubt- 
less the  poor  woman  sighed  as  she  dropped  in 
her  little  coin,  almost  ashamed  in  the  glad  self- 


GOD'S  GREAT  PRAISING  DAY  177 

denial  of  her  heart  that  the  gift  was  so  insignifi- 
cant. 

Well,  Christ  is  always  sitting  over  against  the 
treasury.  And  He  knows — He  knows.  And 
when  the  day  comes  for  Him  to  speak  His  praise, 
will  there  not  be  some  surprises?  How  He  up- 
lifted and  glorified  Mary's  deed  of  love !  She 
meant  not  so,  neither  did  her  heart  think  so,  as 
she  broke  her  alabaster  box  of  ointment  and 
poured  it  on  His  head.  But  He  made  it  the 
anointing  for  His  burial,  and  lifted  to  her  a 
monument  that  any  queen  of  earth  might  envy. 

That  praising  day  of  God  will  also  be  a  day 
without  rebuke. 

Here  blame  and  praise  go  together,  even  from 
God's  lips.  They  are  a  part  of  the  discipline  of 
life.  We  are  not  ready  yet  for  the  heavenly 
citizenship,  but  are  being  fitted  for  it.  We  trip 
and  fall,  we  go  astray,  we  are  overborne  of  evil, 
even  while  we  love.  And  God  must  rebuke  and 
chasten,  even  as  an  earthly  parent  reproves  and 
chides.  He  loves  whom  He  chastens,  and  scourges 
every  son  whom  He  receives.  Hear  Christ's  word 
to  the  church  at  Ephesus :  "  I  know  thy  works, 
thy  toil,  thy  patience,  but  I  have  this  against  thee, 
that  thou  hast  left  thy  first  love."  Hear  His  word 
to  the  church  in  Pergamum  :  "  I  know  thy  works, 


178  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

that  thou  dwellest  where  Satan's  seat  is,  and  yet 
holdest  fast  My  name,  and  didst  not  deny  My 
faith ;  but  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee."  Hear 
His  word  to  the  church  at  Thyatira  :  "  I  know  thy 
works  and  thy  love  and  faith  and  ministry  and 
patience,  but  I  have  this  against  thee."  Praise 
mingled  with  rebuke — praise  mingled  with  re- 
buke. This  is  God's  way.  While  sin  remains, 
He  must  rebuke  and  chasten.  How  could  it  be 
otherwise  ?  If  He  should  let  sin  go  unnoticed, 
even  in  His  most  loved  and  loving  disciple,  it 
would  look  as  if  He  did  not  care.  And  if  He  did 
not  care — if  He  glossed  sin,  or  condoned  it,  or  let 
it  go  unrebuked — down  in  our  deepest  hearts  we 
would  not  care  for  Him. 

So  Peter  must  not  only  hear  from  Christ's  lips 
"  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-jona,"  but  also, 
"  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan."  And  to  the  same 
disciples  to  whom  He  spoke  words  of  pathetic 
and  matchless  tenderness  He  must  needs  say, 
"  Could  ye  not  watch  with  me  one  hour?" 

But  when  sin  is  ended  and  the  plague-spot  is 
wholly  out  of  our  hearts  and  we  are  altogether 
like  our  Lord,  and  see  Him  as  He  is,  the  day  of 
rebuke  will  be  over.  There  will  be  no  chiding, 
for  there  will  be  no  occasion  for  it.  The  discipline 
of  life  will  be  finished.     When  Christ  comes  to 


GOD'S  GREAT  PRAISING  DAY  179 

speak  His  praises  in  the  great  day  we  are  think- 
ing of,  He  will  not  say  to  one  soul  of  all  the  ran- 
somed host,  "  I  know  thy  works  and  thy  patience 
and  faith  and  ministry,  but  I  have  this  against 
thee."     That  shadow  will  not  fall  on  any  heart. 

Kipling,  with  his  eye  on  the  end  of  things, 
eager  for  realities,  and  in  utter  scorn  of  shams, 
sings  exultingly  of  the  time  "  when  earth's  last 
picture  shall  be  painted  "  : — 

"  And  only  the  Master  shall  praise  us. 

And  only  the  Master  shall  blame; 
And  no  one  shall  work  for  money, 

And  no  one  shall  work  for  fame ; 
But  each  for  the  joy  of  the  working, 

And  each  in  his  separate  star. 
Shall  draw  the  thing  as  he  sees  it. 

For  the,  God  of  things  as  they  are." 

But  he  strikes  one  false  note  in  this  splendid 
song,  as  he  sings,  "  Only  the  Master  shall  blame." 
The  Master  will  not  blame.  For  He  will  then 
have  nothing — nothing — against  the  lowliest  dis- 
ciple. 

Read  the  gospel  record  of  that  day  and  see. 
"  Come,  ye  blessed  of  My  Father,  inherit  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world."  It  is  all  praise  and  no  rebuke. 
Read  the  parable    of  the  talents.     "  Thou    hast 


i8o  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

been  faithful  "— "  Thou  hast  been  faithful."  That 
is  the  verdict,  whether  to  the  one  with  five  talents 
or  to  the  one  with  two.  Read  the  parable  of  the 
pounds.  "Well  done "—"  Well  done."  That's 
the  verdict.  It  is  all  praise  still,  whether  the 
gain  was  more  or  less.  No  look  of  Christ  will 
set  us  to  weeping  bitter  tears  of  penitence  there. 
No  word  of  Christ  will  fall  reprovingly  on  any 
one  of  His  true  disciples.  In  that  day  of  the 
counsels  of  the  hearts  each  man  shall  hav^e  only 
praise  from  God, 

My  friends,  some  of  you  are  honestly  trying  to 
serve  God.  By  prayer  and  gift  and  deed  of  toil, 
by  patient  suffering,  by  self-denial,  by  helpful 
though  lowly  ministry,  you  have  brought  some 
sunshine  into  the  world,  and,  for  Christ's  sake, 
have  made  it  seem  more  homelike  and  hopeful  to 
a  homeless  and  hopeless  heart.  You  have  not 
done  much  for  your  Master,  but  you  have  wanted 
to.  And  the  little  you  have  done  has  often 
seemed  fruitless.  You  have  felt  almost  ashamed 
when  any  one  has  spoken  with  warm  appreciation 
of  your  service — so  like  the  merest  trifle  has  it 
seemed  to  you.  And  even  when  down  in  your 
deepest  heart  you  knew  the  deed  was  born  of  the 
desire  to  bless  somebody  for  Jesus'  sake,  your 
motive  may  have  been  misunderstood  and  your 


GOD'S  GREAT  PRAISING  DAY  i8i 

action  tortured  into  meanness  and  selfishness. 
As  that  bitterest  of  acids  was  appHed  to  the 
coin  of  your  Christian  integrity  you  possibly  felt 
the  sting  of  ingratitude  and  misrepresentation. 
"  Wait  a  bit  and  dinna  weary,"  troubled  heart ; 
think  ahead.  Men,  it  may  be,  do  not  see  thee 
nor  heed  thee  nor  praise  thee.  But  by  and  by, 
God's  great  praising  day  shall  come. 

And  when  praises  shall  fall  from  His  lips  I 
know  they  will  put  new  meaning  and  an  exceeding 
weight  of  glory  into  your  life.  What  seemed  to 
be  cross-signed  here  and  weighted  with  care  and 
even  black  sometimes  with  the  clouds  that  gath- 
ered in  it,  will  be  radiant  with  the  glory  of  God 
upon  it  in  that  great  praising  day  when  Christ 
shall  tell  His  estimate  of  things.  All  the  heart's 
longings  will  be  satisfied.  All  the  lowly  toil  will 
be  uplifted  and  glorified.  All  the  motives  will  be 
counted  as  achievements.  All  the  tender  moods 
and  all  the  hidden  mysteries  of  love  will  have  the 
fullest  recognition :  for  the  praises  in  that  day 
will  be  praises  from  God,  genuine,  individual, 
without  rebuke,  discriminating,  ringing  true. 

Doubtless  you  will  have  praises  from  men. 
But  see  to  it,  O  child  of  God,  that  human  praise 
is  never  gotten  by  devices  of  expediency  that 
involve  the   remotest    suspicion    of  disloyalty  to 


i82  FROM  LOVE  TO  PRAISE 

your  Lord  and  His  truth :  and  never  gotten  by 
prophesying  smooth  things  at  the  expense  of 
silence  as  to  doctrines  of  God's  word  that  are 
just  as  true  though  not  so  smooth.  If  men 
praise  you  for  these  reasons  your  Lord  may  not 
praise  you  for  any  reason. 

Keep  your  eye  and  heart  on  that  great  day  of 
last  accounts  when  each  shall  have  his  praise 
from  God. 

We  call  that  last  great  day  the  judgment  day. 
And  so  it  is.  We  associate  it  with  awe  and 
majesty.  And  so  we  ought.  But  for  Christ's 
disciples  there  is  another  side  to  it — a  sweet  and 
blessed  side. 

It  has  been  the  purpose  of  this  word  of  truth 
to  show  you  something  of  the  ineffable  glory  of 
that  day,  when  to  each  loving  and  loyal  disciple 
shall  be  spoken  praises  by  "  the  Master  of  all 
good  workmen  " — praises  that  should  make  us 
look  toward  that  day  with  a  kind  of  eager  joy. 

"  What  then,  if  Christ  is 
Sifting  out  the  souls  of  men  l:)efore  His  judgment  seat ! 
Be  swift  my  soul  to  answer  Him  :  '  Be  jubilant  my  feet.'  " 


